Perfect Soldier
by EdgelessSword
Summary: Angélica Rivera became the soldier every military regiment wishes to have. Her main mission? Kill Makarov. She joins Task Force 141 under MacMillan and Shepherd's orders.
1. Chapter 1

Angelica Rivera was a Doctor who was working with the military in the development of a serum that would be able to create the 'perfect soldier' by enhancing neural and cellular activity.

Imagine having a way to boost your athletic performance, muscle strength, endurance, oxygenation, focus and alertness while decreasing fatigue. To enhance your sensory function and boost the pain suppression. Imagine all of these assets stored in one ordinary human.

With a total of 20 test subjects, it had proven to work by enhancing all the points previously mentioned, but their bodies could not take in the chems for long, so their system would start to fail just few minutes after the serum was administrated, causing them sensory withdrawal resulting in their inevitable deaths.

The project, although it began with a promising start, was going to be shut down and be considered as a "failure" by the financiers, meaning the militants, when the doctor noticed that all the test subjects were male. What if a woman was the solution?

 **[Program Facility]**

I closed the door behind me, finally getting out of my office after infinite hours of research with what I thought was definitely going to be the answer to everything. The problem was not the serum, it was men. Their system couldn't take it. No matter what I did, no matter what I tried, whatever I did in attempt to modify it for them, didn't work. They kept rejecting it.

It was after hours of staring at the ceiling that I got a silver lining. It isn't ideal - I know - but having the soldier be a woman was the solution, that was - of course - until I figure out a way for men to survive it.

Whilst I made my way through the white corridors, I saw my colleague - Dr. Wheathley - talking with the military men that supported and financed our project, and if you ask me they didn't seem to be very pleased. Who would be? We lost 20 subjects in a month, all of them great soldiers with a long life ahead of them, diseased for a stupid error that we couldn't bring ourselves to fix.

My partner, on the other hand, said this was all part of the process. That they had sign a contract that absolved us from any responsibility. 'This is an experiment after all' is his lazy reply. I guess I have yet to convince myself of it, because no matter how hard I tried to think that way, as I see it, we were the ones using them as lab rats.

I lift my gaze to meet the men before me when a raised voice caught my attention. Not that it was particularly odd for the General of the British special forces - Gen. Macmillan - to be bitter and harsh with Wheathley, but today it seemed to have tripled. I guess whatever answer he was giving to him was not satisfying enough this time. My eyes then traveled towards the other militant. His face was unfamiliar to me, but he seemed to be American, at least that's what his uniform told me.

"General MacMillan" I called him, making him turn his head towards me.

"I'm Dr. Rivera, Remember me? I'm the one helping Dr. Wheathley with the development of the PCED (physical-cognitive enhancement drug)." I greeted him with the fondest smile I could come to elaborate, presenting my hand as a friendly greeting. To my delight, my plan worked and the atmosphere visibly pacified after that.

"Dr. Rivera, it is nice to see you again" he replied with a caring smile as he stretched my hand.

"General, I know that perhaps it's too late, but I may have an answer for you. It's just a variable that hasn't been tested, at least not yet" I managed to say and he frowned, prompting me to elaborate.

"None of the test subjects were female." is my reply. The other general glanced at MacMillan, not being able to control the mocking smile that was already forming in his face.

"If you would allow me to elaborate?" I ask, receiving a nod as an answer.

"Part of the PCED comes from a hormone that is secreted by females during pregnancy. Unlike men, females may endure its effects because it is naturally produced from our (female) bodies" I explained.

I see both Macmillan and the General beside him frown. That is when my heart started beating fast. It all made sense in my head until now...

"Right" Macmillan said. "Let's say the 'woman' thing is going to work. Do we have the test subject?"

"No, but-"

"Then there is nothing to discuss" The other general scowled, silencing my voice.

"I know having a woman as the enhanced soldier is not ideal to you. I know you say women are the weaker sex, but with this, you will notice no difference of gender. It doesn't matter who does the job, the important thing is getting the job done." I boldly reply, feeling my face hot and probably red.

"You don't have the test subject, Doctor. If you don't find a way to prove us you're right, this facility is going to be shut down, as simple as that" he shot back.

"Bu-"

"This project has done nothing but cost us money and has showed no results. Unless you miraculously find a way to make it work, this is the end for you" he continued, and he seemed to be enjoying himself.

I opened my mouth but every word that managed to get out, came out as a pathetic stutter. I couldn't bring myself to articulate any coherent word. I felt so desperate, I didn't know what to do. Everything was crumbling before me. I knew it was going to be impossible to find a woman with all the requirements in just one day - hours- as the matter of fact. My eyes scanned through the floor, seeking an answer I knew I wouldn't be able to find, unless...

"What if I am the one?" I muttered, slowly lifting my eyes towards Macmillan and completely ignoring the way Wheathley eyed me with complete and utter astonishment.

"Doctor, we -" The other General began, but was soon silenced with Macmillan's raised hand.

"Are you aware of what you're asking for?" Macmillan questioned as he stood with his greatest authority before me, his blue eyes scanning my face as he waited for my final answer.

This was it. Whatever I choose to say, there is no turning back. Acceding to this meant the end of the life I knew and starting a new and hostile one. I would have to keep up to their expectations, make no mistake. Kill...murder...end lives...for a greater good. I had to believe it in my bones, it was all for the greater good. The war had spread though Europe, and pushing it back was the imminent action. We had to contain it. We cannot let them spread to civil areas, it will throw the world into oblivion. Rejecting it was a coward action, I knew it. If I dare, this could mean a second chance for the project. I would only be a temporary substitute.

"General, my father served with you once. I know you are aware of that. I also know that you are aware that I served as part of the medical team in the Special forces brigade before my father died. I know I can be of use. I may still need to learn some things for this matter, but like I said, the drug is going to take care of that. All I ask you is to have a little faith in them. Give them a bit more time. If I survive, then you will be getting your male enhanced soldier in no time, and you can discharge me with all rights. No need to explain."

He kept examining my features for more than one silent minute, which was doing no good to my nerves, before giving me one and firm nod in approval. "Proceed then, Doctor" He said, making the other General open his eyes in shock. He then turned around and headed towards the main test area, the other general managing to rip his feet from the floor and following his comrade.

My eyes then trailed back to Wheathley as his face appeared into my line of view, his eyes wide as plates, showing a mixture of shock and anger "Are you out of your bloody mind? What the hell are you thinking?"

"Wheathley...I know this is insane"

"Oh- it is. Believe me it is" he replied quickly, interrupting my sentence. "Do you even know if it's going to work?"

"... I promise you it will work. I know it will."

He remained silent, still shaking his head in disapproval. "I hope you're fucking right" he sniped, glaring into my eyes. "Otherwise I will be burying you in a few hours" he added relentlessly before walking towards the test chamber.

I watched him in shock until his white lab coat disappeared behind the glass doors. I filled my lungs with air until I could bear no more, and let it out in a huge sigh. "God. I hope I'm right" I muttered, starting to move my own feet.

* * *

"Are you ready?" Wheathley asked as he prepared the serum just beside my chair. The room was dead silent, all you could hear were whispers. The two Generals expectantly standing not far away from me.

"What do you think?" I replied, glaring into his eyes. He stared at me for a bit longer before addressing me one nod and turning to the team. "Is everyone ready? are the readings operational?"

"Online and working" One of them responded from the control area.

"Vital signs?"

"She's a little nervous..."

Wheathley turned to me and gently placed his hand on top of mine. "Good luck, Partner" he said with a sadden smile before walking towards the control area.

I closed my eyes tightly and clenched my fingers into the chair when the liquid poured into my veins. It felt like it was burning them to ashes. I tried to control the urge to scream and transmit the burning pain I felt spraying through my body. I sensed an immense amount of pressure in my neck going towards my head. Then suddenly, everything stopped. I couldn't hear, see, smell...All my senses shut down and before I could think of anything, everything came back like a bang I slowly opened my eyes again and relaxed my fingers from the arm of the chair. I looked up to my colleagues and noticed they were all staring at me with expectancy. Everything did felt different. My senses were a bit more sharped now.

"Well?" I asked while raising a brow to my colleague.

"What are her readings?" Wheathley stuttered as he beckoned the doctors for answers.

"As it should be" one doctor confirmed as he stared at the monitor. "...all is enhanced and everything looks stable."

With hastened movements, Wheathley walked towards the other doctor and leaned his face to the monitor to see the results himself.

"Remarkable" Wheathley stammered as he took off his glasses and he scanned all the data the computers were eagerly generating. "Most test subjects didn't even reach this level of stability"

The generals exchanged glances before quietly and obviously commenting about me. Then Gen. MacMillian formed a victorious grin on his face as he returned his face to me again. I guess he was pleased with the results.

"So" I stood up and General Shepherd took a step back as I advanced towards them, General MacMillian, on the other hand, took a step forward to me. I stopped and formed a slight grin as I raised a brow. "When do we start?"


	2. Chapter 2

I watched the base as it came into view from the helicopter, the sun finding its way through the structures of the gigantic airfield. With a discouraged sigh, I formed the most pathetic excuse of a smile before returning my eyes to the Generals before me. One, in particular, was staring back at me.

"We never quite presented each other. I'm General Shepherd" he said as he lifted his hand towards me. I looked at it with questioning eyes before hesitantly sliding my hand into his. 'We didn't start quite well' was more fitting.

"Angelica" I said as I stretched his rough hand.

"I remind to you, it is best if you use your code name from now on " he replied as he released my hand.

"Right, 'Wildfire' ." I pronounced the words as if the name inspired no revolution. "May I ask why did you put me that?"

He smirked- "Because the wild fires are powerful. It destroys everything that crosses its path and it is almost impossible to stop."

"We are nearly there, Wildfire." MacMillan highlighted, making me snap my eyes back to him. "Captain MacTavish will receive you and escort you to your quarters as soon as we arrive. You will be designated as a 2nd Lieutenant to not raise suspicion among the base, meaning you will be considered as a Lieutenant inside and outside the team"

"Being a Lieutenant is one of the highest and respected ranks. You'll be the Captain's second hand in command, but keep in mind he is your captain and you are to do whatever he orders you" Shepherd added.

"Understood" I replied.

"No one on the team knows what you really are except for the Captain and the 1st Lieutenant" Macmillan stated.

"The Lieutenant?" Shepherd questioned. "I thought we agreed only the Captain was to be informed" he said with rather displeasure in his voice.

"Don't worry, Shepherd; he understands the secrecy on the matter" was Macmillan's reply. "Anyway, to them you are what you are. For the rest you're just another soldier. We don't let anyone in unless they're exceptional. This is an elite team, after all. So you prove yourself out there, Lieutenant, I trust you will. You're going to be put through several tests to measure your skills, as always, only the Captain and Lieutenant will be present. But since this is an special event, we will be also attending to it"

I nodded in understanding. "I won't let you down" I assured. The chopper landed softly on the ground, but the engine was still running, meaning they weren't here to stay. "Oh- and one more thing, Lt." Macmillan's voice ringed in my ears just before I climbed down the chopper. "Good luck"

I gave him a slight smile and one respectful nod before jumping down, allowing them to take off again. I lifted my head and watched the heli fly away in the distance, then turned around and watched my surroundings. Men were doing push-ups, P.T exercises... it was much like the movies. Figures...

My eyes landed on a man with a Mohawk and a scar running down his right eye as he approached me from the distance. It didn't take much for me to figure it was the Captain. I turned to his direction and approached him, matching his footsteps.

"Are you Lieutenant Rivera?" He asked in a thick Scottish accent. The man before me inspired fear. He was so robust and tall, I was sure I looked like a frightened puppy beside him.

"That is correct, Captain." I replied as cordially as possible.

"Code name Wildfire, is that right?" He asked as he scanned the folder in his hands.

"Yes, sir." I replied with a slight smile on my face. The way he lifted a brow when my nickname was revealed to him seemed to have him question its origin. Nevertheless, He placed his folder under his arm and presented his hand to me. "Welcome to Task force 141, Wildfire"

"Thank you" I formed a soft smile while stretching his hand.

"I'm Captain MacTavish. I'm here to escort you to the 141's quarters. Follow me, please."

I gave him one respectful nod before following him at his command. I don't know why I felt so alien. He wasn't treating me with any indifference or disdain. Yet, I felt me being here was a complete insult to everything.

"So" The Captain began, evidently wanting to end the awkward silence between us and fixing his ice blue eyes in me. "Where did 'Wildfire' come from? Was it you or them?" he asked.

"Them" was my lazy explanation, immediately placing my hands inside my jacket's pockets to protect them from the chill air of the evening. "General Shepherd was the one who named me that way, actually" I continued.

"I'm sure he gave it to you for a good reason" was his cold reply, his eyes fixed on the distance. I let out a gentle laughter in a attempt to wash away his loutish comment. I haven't even started and I'm already feeling unwanted.

"As you already know - I'm more than sure that Macmillan or Shepherd already told you - but, this is no ordinary team. I know why you're here, but you'll have to prove you belong here." he said.

"I know that, sir" I replied discouragingly as we approached a terrain at the far side from the airfield. This was definitely not a promising start. I don't know what I've done to deserve such prejudice. They haven't even tested me yet. How can they be so sure I will fail?

"I know what you think of me..." I trailed out without thinking and the confidence in my voice was amusing. "What the fuck is a bloody civilian doing here when there were so many better options? and worst of all, a girl?" A quiet and pathetic chuckle escaped my lips. "But Captain, let me ask you this. How far are you willing to go to prove you're right? How much are you willing to sacrifice for something you believe in? I'm not doing for this just because of my pride or stubbornness, though I would lie If I told you that is not part of the main reason. But I'm also doing it for the people. I'm willing to sacrifice my life in order to keep them safe. You will get your male solder in time, I assure you that. I'll be gone before you notice" I finished with harsh and unpolite words, not being able to hide my annoyance. I'm here to do a job. To go to war. What else do they want from me?

"I'm not against you joining up, Lieutenant" he replied calmly, making my eyes lock in his blue one's. "I was actually the only one on the team who wasn't" he admitted.

"Then, with all due respect, why are you treating me so unwillingly? I already feel strange here, you don't have to make me feel more alien" I scowl before realizing how dismissive my words were. "I'm sorry...That was out of order, forgive me" I immediately rectified.

"You don't need to apologize" he answered before stopping his march, making me mimic his actions. "I cannot imagine how strange and frightening this is for you."

"I can assure you I'm not frightened, Captain, Otherwise I wouldn't be here. And certainly I do need to apologize, I should not pour my stress on to you"

He slightly shook his head while taking one step closer to me, making me slightly tilt my head in response of the difference of heights. "Lieutenant-" he trailed out, but was soon distracted by a man approaching us from behind.

"Roach?" The Captain questioned as he frowned at the man. "Wildfire this is Sergeant Gary Sanderson, we call him Roach."

Well that is a curious name. And here I was complaining about mine.

"Oh- Is she the one?" He asked the Captain, ripping his eyes from me towards him.

"Yes, she is" he replied to him, trailing his blue eyes back to me.

"Lieutenant" Roach saluted me, placing his hand firmly over his forehead. I cannot explain the half shock it provoked me. I could almost hear my father mocking at me right now. He was a very...dedicate militant. Once he forcefully taught me everything he wanted to teach me, I promised and swore to him I would never join the military. It was a shame my mother wasn't alive to control him. I remember people saying the best of him died with her, and since his frustrated dream was having a son - And I wished God had given him that blessing - I guess he saw no other option but to stuck it all in me. It is not that I didn't find it amusing, or actually feel attracted to it. It is in my veins. But the way it was forced in me left a bitter taste.

"Were you heading inside?" The Sergeant asked the Captain, his hazel eyes fixed in mine's. I confusingly knit my brows together before noticing we had already reached the building.

"We were" The Captain responded, making roach's eyes jump back to him and he was quick to open the door for us.

"After you" He said with a warm and welcoming smile. I'm glad that at least someone is -or at least pretending - to be glad I'm here. I hope the other are also this charismatic.

"Thank you" I replied, giving him a caring smile in return as I entered the place.

"Everyone, this is 2nd Lieutenant Rivera, call sign Wildfire. The one I informed you this morning." The Captain began as he closed the door behind him.

They all stopped their doings and stared at me as if I was some kind of an exotic being, making me move my eyes to MacTavish in search for aid. The Captain gestured me to look again, making me turn my head to the front and spotting one guy approaching me from the distance as he cleaned his dirty hands.

"Hi, I'm Toad and that one over there is Archer, we are the snipers of the team" He said as he came closer to stretch my hand. I replied by forming a slight smile and giving him one respectful nod, following with Archer, who was replying my greetings from the distance.

"So, you're the new recruit, eh? Lieutenant?" asked a guy as he examined me from head to toe with a devilish smile. "I have to admit my expectations didn't let me down" He said with a mocking smile.

I frown at his comment. Before I could say anything, the Captain smacked his head, making the man let out a small whimper in return. "What do you think you're doing, wanker?"

The rest of the guys laughed while the fool backed away.

"You better know you place, Royce" One of them mockingly said, revealing me his name.

"I'm Scarecrow" A voice rang near me, making me for a smile again and moving to stretch the man's hand. "Ozone" said another one, making him be the next in line for a hand shake. "Meat" the final one said.

"Pleased to meet all of you" I replied with a smile.

I turned to a guy who had a skull-patterned balaclava with dark sunglasses, his strong arms crossed on his chest. My smile vanished the second I caught his stare in me. "This is Ghost. My 1st Lieutenant" MacTavish announced as he appeared into my line of sight. His Lieutenant certainly inspired fear, me being the complete opposite of course. I hesitantly lifted my hand to shake his hand. It was very cold compared to the others, but much softer. As soon as I released his hand, he folded his arm over his chest again.

"You will be sharing quarters with him" MacTavish continued, making my eyes snap back to him then back to the man before me, his lenses were so dark I could see my reflection in them. So much for a friendly company...

"Why don't you show her where it is, Ghost? Show her around a little bit then report back to me. I have to go back to my office to finish some reports" He said as in a manner of excuse while heading backwardly towards the exit. "I'll see you later, Lieutenant" he said to me before disappearing behind the door.

"Right this way" a thick British voice said, immediately discovering it belonged to the Lieutenant. I was quick to dismiss myself to the rest of the team before following the Lieutenant's hastened footsteps. I walked in silence behind him, forcing my legs to catch up his pace. It didn't take much for us to reach the communal barracks. The Team's barracks were a little bit farther than the rest. Our boots bumped against the new floor as we headed for the far side of the barrack. It seems the Captain's and Lieutenant's quarters were different from the rest.

"Well, this is it." he began while opening the door, then moving aside to allow my entrance. The room was... acceptable. It had two beds, each on each side of the bedroom, a little night table in the middle and a small desk beside the door. It also had its own bathroom. No windows though, but I think it works just fine if you return tired from a mission and the day is brighter as it'll ever be.

"Cozy" I commented while entering the room.

"Your bed is the one on the left. Your belongings are on top of it as you can see"

"Yeah, there they are." I replied as I approached them. I only packed the essentials really. Nothing more than underwear and sanitary supplements, mostly because I would use a different kind of uniform, which was now placed just beside my bag. Black military boots with a dark colored uniform, one for each day of the week it seems.

"New uniform..." I muttered, forming a poor smile as I grabbed the dark navy shirt that had the 141 graving. It was a radical change indeed, the mere skull of its logo was enough to prove it. It is always been this way. In one hand we hold life, in the other we hold death. I hope I don't get to choose which one will rule over me. I sensed the Lt. eyes in me as I ran a finger through the graving, trailing my finger around the cartoonish skull before letting out a deep sigh.

"Why don't you... change up. I'll wait for you outside, then I'll show you everything you need to know" he rambled, making me snap my eyes in his direction.

"Alright" I elaborated with a certain surprise to his sudden comment. He gave me one nod in response before closing the door behind him. I grabbed the rest of the uniform and headed for the bathroom. I approached the mirror that was just above the sink and advanced towards it until I was face to face with my reflection as I pressed my hands on the cold silk of it. My eyes explored the brunette color of my eyes and hair to then land on my pale skin. I moved my hand to take off the rubber band that tied my hair and let it fall freely to my elbows.

I returned to the bedroom to place my old clothes below the bed and let out a heavy sigh as I stood up again, observing my surroundings. The room was very silent, again mostly because it didn't have any windows, except for a little one I spotted at the top of the bathroom, but since it was closed, it didn't let any sound get in. I guess it was placed there to let the steam of the shower get out.

I walked towards the door and slid my hand on the cold handle, turning it to the side to open the door. The lieutenant was waiting for me leaning lazily against the wall in front of the room, he had his lenses raised up to his head and his arms crossed over his chest, absently looking towards the floor.

"I'm ready" I announced, making him redirect his eyes towards me. Ghost had gorgeous light blue eyes. It really made me wonder why on earth would he choose to hide them. I lowered my sight to the wooden floor when I realized I've been staring for too long and closed the door behind me.

He lowered his lenses to hide his light eyes again and gestured me to follow him, which I obediently did. I walked in silence behind him as we entered the airfield again.

"I'm sure General Shepherd or Macmillan already told you that nobody but us knows about you. So, I think it's best if you keep your loop in the one four one" he began as we headed towards a small building.

"Yeah, I know" I formed a slight smile "Don't trouble yourself about it. Besides, I don't think I want to socialize with this kind of people" I continued, eyeing a bunch of soldiers that observed us from the distance who were quietly commenting about us.

"Oi!" Ghost suddenly sniped, making me jump in response to his sudden shout. "Mind your own business, dickheads!" he shouted, making the group walk away and I raised my brows in surprise to their immediate obedience. Who wouldn't? really. Besides, he's the Lieutenant of an elite team. I don't think disobeying them is an option.

"Have you always been in the one four one?" I asked when the question crossed my mind.

"No, the one four one was recently made. I was part of another division, the Special air service or S.A.S as everyone knows it" he replied.

"Was the Captain part of that regiment too?"

"Indeed, he was"

"And what's the difference? Between one team and another I mean"

"Well, we don't do regular missions. We only participate in a specific kind of missions. Special missions"

"...like?" I asked, wanting him to elaborate further.

It seems I was making to many questions, because his answer came following a miffed sigh. "Extraction, captures...Things like that. We don't cooperate on missions in which the only purpose is to gain territory or defend a position"

I nodded in understanding before trailing my eyes back to the front, finding the building right in front of us.

"This is the dining hall. Whenever you're feelin' hungry, this is the place you wanna go" he stated before opening the door for me. The dinning room was incredibly full. There was people everywhere and not a single table was empty. I frowned as I looked around, some of the solders even turned around to see me. Is it really that strange the presence of a woman in this kind of field? It was almost like they haven't seen a woman in their entire lives. "Alright. I think I'm gonna come back when everyone just... leaves..."

Ghost let out a lazy chuckle, making me immediately look towards him in surprise. I didn't think he was capable of such thing, less that I would be responsible for it. "Let's carry on then, come on" he ordered.

The next stop was the training hangars and I instantly knew this was where I was going to be most of the time. "We have everything you can ask for. Over there is the shooting range hangar and there is the gym, although most of us prefer doing exercise outside. And here..." he said as he approached a big blue hangar. "Is where you're going to be tested when General Shepherd comes back" he said as he showed me a the gigantic closed door. I looked up to its roof as I approached it. "How is it?" I asked as I placed my hand on the metal door. This hangar is so big, the test could have four levels. It does no good no my already troubled mind. I better get started in some training... Refresh what I already know a little...

"Can't tell ya, but it will tell us if you have what it takes to be on the field with us. I hope you leave us stunned with your performance in there, otherwise I'm sure everyone will be terribly disappointed"

"I'm sure I'll be able to handle it" I replied in defense to his unpolished comment.

"Well, I hope you do. Otherwise, you will be packing your stuff in no time because in our type of missions we can't have delays, even if that includes you, sweetheart. If you fall back we ain't picking you up."

I cocked my head to the side before taking one step forward to him and holding my defiant stare in his covered eyes. "The only delay you're going to have, Sir, is when waiting for the chopper to extract us." I scowled, holding my piercing glare in his eyes as silence filled the air for the next few seconds.

I noticed his cheeks lifting up in response of the smile he was forming on his covered lips, making me push my brows together in confusion. Evidently he is enjoying himself at my expense. He hummed just before turning around and walking towards the airfield again, making me blink twice in perplexity.

"MacTavish is surely wondering where we are" He commented as he walked, but I remained still in my spot, unable to understand what had happen. The moment he noticed my absence, he stopped and looked back at me. "Well C'mon, Leg it. I don't have all day" he demanded, making me hesitantly move my feet again.

We didn't talk again until we met up with MacTavish at the dining room, my mind was too confused to even comment about anything, besides, I was afraid that if I did, he would murder me right in the spot without any reason. MacTavish told me the test wasn't difficult, but it would be best If I practiced beforehand. So I prepared myself mentally for a rough day of training, starting up in the shooting range to then test my physical endurance with some P.T.

Impressively, MacTavish and Ghost seemed to have a good relationship. You could easily think they were brothers by blood. MacTavish related me a few of their missions. some of the S.A.S, some of the the 1-4-1, but they were truly worth telling. He told me how he and Roach took out an entire base on their own and, between laughs, he admitted that Roach did save his ass in that one mission.

We also ended up talking a little bit about Ghost's past in the S.A.S, how he was the best in the entire regiment -according to MacTavish- and also that his whole team was betrayed in one mission, resulting in Ghost being up captured by the same enemies they were trying to take down. Then MacTavish explained how he managed to escape and kill the man who did it in the best 'bad-ass' way. The way MacTavish talked about Ghost made realize he had a big sentiment of admiration towards him. Ghost, on the other hand, went really quiet. He did comment on certain parts but even when he did, his eyes didn't lift from the table.

It seems it was still a sensitive topic for him. Although, MacTavish didn't seem to realize that. So I discreetly changed subject by asking MacTavish about how did it feel to have a team of his own, to which he replied it was a lot of responsibility. Every decision he made affected not just him, but the others as well. Then he told me about his former Captain, Price, who he said died in action after a difficult mission called "king fish". The mission consisted in the capture, dead or alive, of a ultranationalist named Makarov. He told me the mission was a set-up, that it was a trap and that Price stayed behind to make sure they could make it out alive. He didn't seem to be happy by recalling those things, but I noticed something else was poking his mind.

"May I ask you something? If you don't mind of course" he finally said when he couldn't control the urge of his question.

"Of course. What is it?" was my lazy and informal reply.

"How was it? turning into a enhanced soldier. How did it feel?" he asked.

I formed a slight smile as I looked absently at the table. I couldn't blame him. If I was him I would be curious too, but I took my time into gathering the words I would need to reply. "It was awful" I replied genuinely and I noticed how my honest reply made Ghost instantly look towards me. I closed my eyes and shook my head in the recall of that horrific feeling of incineration. "It was a horrible and traumatic experience. The serum burned inside my veins with the intensity of a wild fire." I continued whilst directing my eyes back to him. "I thought I was going to die and that wasn't even the worst part. It felt like a part of me was just ...dying." I rubbed my thumb in the transparent water glass between my hands. "Perhaps not physically, but something inside me" I continued before letting out a deep exhale.

"The objective of the experiment was to reduce the capacity for pity, fear, I even dare to say conscience... and, of course, increase muscle strength, mental capacity, faster reaction, prediction, reasoning... All to make a better soldier." I said with a poor smile. "Or at least the kind of soldier everyone seems to want in their troops..." I added.

MacTavish looked at me as if I was wounded, and I didn't even dare to look at Ghost. I let out an annoyed sigh before placing the glass of water steady on the table again.

"Don't look at me that way, Captain. I do not want your pity. What's done it's done. Let's just hope I am sufficient enough for you" I murmured, almost tagging Ghost's name on my sentence, but he seemed to have understood the reference. In the next few seconds he excused himself from the table and announced his return to the barracks.

I took advantage of his absence to tell the Captain about the 'moment' he and I shared earlier in the day. I wasn't calling him off or anything, I was just curious if he was like this with everyone or if it was an especial treatment directed just to me.

"Yeah, that sounds like him. Don't worry about it, that's just his way of making friends. But I must admit I thought he would make an exception for you, it seems I was mistaken" He said before drinking the can of juice between his hands. "Don't take it personal. I bet you two are going to be the greatest friends in no time"

"I highly doubt it" I answered before an unexpected yawn escaped my mouth. The day was certainly starting to weight on me, so my curiosity didn't last very long. This had been a long day for me, too much in one day I dare to say. "Well, see you tomorrow, Captain" I dismissed myself as I stood up from the large cafeteria table.

"MacTavish is fine. You don't have to address me as Captain every time we speak" He replied, making me halt my movements for a brief second. I gave him a fond smile before continuing my way out of the cafeteria.

The night at the base was incredibly colder than the day. My lone footsteps echoed throughout the hall as I made my way to the room's door. I gently pushed the door open to avoid waking up the Lieutenant, to then softly push it close again. Amazingly, the room was as cold as it was outside, which now made me understand why it didn't have any windows to begin with. I tiptoed my way towards the bathroom, sliding my palm through the wall in a attempt to remember the path now that my eyes weren't able help me. When my fingers touched the bathroom's door I was able to turn on the light inside it and the rest was easy.

I changed up to the sweatpants and shirt left for me and headed back to the room. I noticed absence of the Lt's mask just before turning the light off and finding my way into the warm mattress of the bed. I formed a slight smile of relief and comfort as I buried my face in the soft pillows, letting out a quiet sigh of content just before surrendering to the drowsiness my body was desperately asking for.

* * *

My eyes snapped open when I heard the Lt. woke agitated from a dream, although a 'nightmare' was a more fitting description I suppose. I saw his dark silhouette as he sat up, audibly panting from fear. I remained still between the sheets, trying hardly to not to move a muscle and reveal my awakening. It took a few minutes for him to regain his breath, next I heard how he began to put on his boots before standing up and heading towards the door. When he opened it the light outside illuminated the whole room, making me shut my eyes to remain unseen until I heard the door closed and the room became silent again. I let out a heavy sight before tossing around and forcing myself to sleep again, though after witnessing that, it was nearly impossible.


	3. Chapter 3

The armory of the shooting range had a great amount and variety of weapons. The keeper presented me the M4 as the 141 favorite's, so I figured I could start with that one. I headed towards one of the stations of the shooting range while placing an extra mag inside one of my pockets and positioned myself to shoot. It's not that shooting required any particular skill. How strong do you have to be to pull a trigger anyway? I held the M4 tightly under my arm as I aimed through the scope and gently pushed the trigger to avoid spraying bullets all around while the weapon heavily recoiled under my arm. It is true this was not my first time, I did learn to shoot many years ago under my father's ...particular petition. I rather not recall those events again, I think I had enough his troubled mind and even though he died doing what he loved the most, it seems he had scarred me enough to torture me even after his death. I raised my head to see the results and saw bullet holes in the chest and neck of the wooden target.

"Not bad" I heard a voice behind me which made me turn my head to its direction. For my surprise, it was the lieutenant. He lifted his lenses and rested them in his head as he walked towards me. My body twitched a little when I felt his arms surrounding me. "But it would be better if you just...lift this a lil' bit..." he said, making me lift the M4 closer to my face until the scope was in front of my eye. "and stand like this" He continued as he placed both of his hands on my waist, making me stand slightly to the right. "Go on, shoot" he let out just behind my ear. I held my breath before pressing the trigger once and the bullet went right trough the target's head, making me form a small smile as I lowered my weapon.

"Thank you" I said, watching him with a fond look to which, for my surprise, he was returning. Now that we were this close, I could really explore the icy and light blue color of his eyes. Before I could say anything else, he lowered his eyes to the floor and retreated towards the exit of the hangar. I turned my head to watch him leave the hangar, unable to control that impulse. I smiled absently to my self before looking at the targets in front of me again and aiming through the scope to fire my weapon. Though that scene remained stuck in my head for most of the next hours.

* * *

After practicing for a good amount of hours in the range hangar, I went straight for the gym, which thankfully was completely empty, so I took the maximum profit of it and went for the heavy bag placed in the corner of the gym. Time moved differently for me now that my basic human needs were reduced to a minimum. I did not feel hungry, at least not at the moment, so that gave me more time to practice. I was just throwing another kick to the heavy bag when I heard someone opening the main door of the place, to then open the next door that led to the gym. In my scout for the place, I discovered the building was shared with the infirmary and a beverage machine just beside the main door, right outside the gym.

"Practicing, Lieutenant?" I heard a familiar voice behind me, which made me frown and turn my head towards it.

"Lieutenant..." was my perplexed reply. "I did not expect to see you here"

"I was gonna say the same thing" he answered. "I can see you're giving the bag a good fight" he continued and I trailed my eyes back to the heavy bag that was still oscillating from my punches and kicks, then looked down to my knuckles and noticed they were peeling in response. "Perhaps it is the other way around" I replied.

He approached to me and gently cupped my hand into his. "why aren't you wearing gloves?" he asked. I could help but feel shocked to his sudden care for me.

"Didn't think I'd need them" I replied, forcing my voice into sounding indifferent.

"What d'you think now?" he commented as he released my hand.

"It's fine. Besides, I think I'm done here" I replied while looking at my surroundings, placing both of my hands on each side of my waist.

"Really now? Alright..." he said as he began to roll up his sleeves. "Let's see what you got"

I almost choke to his reply and immediately move my eyes towards him "I beg your pardon?" I managed to get out.

"You seriously didn't expect to just practice against a heavy bag, did you?" was his reply as he walked inside of some kind of 'fighting' square. "Come on" he commanded and I hesitantly entered the space. He gave me the sign to 'come at him' and the fist fighting began. The worst of all was that he wasn't even fighting back, he just stopped and dodged everything I threw at him. In one of my punches he just moved out my way and let me fall to the ground from by own force.

I realized... I didn't know how to fight...or perhaps I did? It was like...vague memories began to show me how. Like every piece of information I ever gathered throughout my life... like everything I ever read, heard, or seen about the matter was now organized and available. My brain was just... pouring them out like water.

"Come on, stop holding yourself back. I know you can do more" he rambled as I stood up with this new feeling expanding throughout my body. I thew a punch at him again, but this time when he stopped it, the other one was already following it from behind. I began to move quickly and threw punches I knew he couldn't stop, leaving him no choice but to start to fight back and when he finally threw a punch at me, I grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground over my shoulder. He groaned as I released his arm, immediately stepping back to see my work.

"Well that's better" he said before starting to sit down with difficulty. I was a little bit perplexed, but still... I couldn't avoid forming a smirk in victory. In the end, who doesn't like to win?

"You asked for it" I replied cockily as I lend him my hand to help him stand up. He looked at it for a second before grabbing it and getting on his feet. "Yes I did" he replied as he moved his hand towards his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" I asked when I noticed his eyes flinched a little in response of the pain he was feeling.

"Ye', Hopefully you didn't break my shoulder here" he replied while carefully moving his shoulder in circles.

"Let me see" I said as my hand sought for the neck of his shirt, but he stopped my hand from tugging it down and my eyes met his in response.

"You know I'm also a doctor, right?" I said as I pushed my brows together "Come on, let me see" I demanded. He released my hand and I tugged town his shoulder to see what was the problem, then I grabbed his arm and lifted up to see if the motion hurt him, which it did. I hummed as I turned around to check if they had a medical kit or something like that around, and found one at the other side of the room, near the lookers beside a wooden bench.

"Come on" I said as I pushed him towards the bench. "Sit here" I continued as I opened the medicine cabinet and grabbed a bandage, then fetched for a cold pack in the small refrigerator bellow. "lift it up to your shoulder" I said as I pointed at his shirt and my eyes landed on the big scar on his ribs before forcing my eyes get back to his shoulder when he looked at me. He flinched when I placed the cold pack on his shoulder and I began to hold it in position with the bandages, tightening a knot around it, which made him groan from the pain again. Then, I grabbed his arm and began to slowly lift it, but before I could move it any further, his moved his arm back down like a spring while letting out a loud groan.

"God, do you treat all your patients like this?" he scowled while covering his shoulder, not allowing me to touch it.

"Stop whining and let me finish, unless you want a stiff arm for the rest of the week" I threatened while folding my arms on my chest. He let out a heavy sigh before removing his hand and allowing me to continue. I lifted it a few times more until I saw the motion didn't hurt him like it originally did.

"Bossy" He lowly muttered, making me form a victorious smile.

"Done. See? It wasn't that bad. I would have finished sooner if you wouldn't have whined so much about it" I said as I released his arm. He shook his head while letting out a gentle laugh,and I noticed he was having difficulties to get his arm back in his shirt. "Let me help you" I said without thinking as I carefully helped him pass his arm through the shirt to the roll it down. My mind tried to not think about it, but I had to admit the Lieutenant had a nice fit body.

"Thank you" he said quietly and I gave him a fond smile in return. I felt the atmosphere around us was starting to change as we stared at each other. I let out a nervous chuckle before picking up the things I had got out and returning them to their rightful places. The skies were already darkening when we made our way to the cafeteria, specially because hunger was now starting to grow in my stomach. The reduced tiredness was evidently notable, but even so, no machine can work without energy source.

We met up with MacTavish at the cafeteria and we ended up eating together, just like the night before. "So..." MacTavish began "Ghost told me you've been practicing" he said before introducing a piece of meat inside his mouth.

"Yes..." I said with exhaustion. "I guess I'm a little worried about the test"

"Don't be silly" MacTavish said with a smile as he still chew the meat inside his mouth. "Ghost says you're doing good. Oh...that reminds me. How was the meeting, mate?" he asked Ghost.

"Same old, all preparation are ready for tomorrow. MacMillan won't be able to assist on time but Shepherd arrives at noon, just in time for the test"

My smile dropped when I felt anxiousness growing in my chest. I don't know why the hell was I so worried. I was an enhanced 'soldier' after all, but I guess some habits can't be removed.

"You'll do fine. If Ghost says you're ready, you're ready" MacTavish's warm voice rang in my ears, taking me away form my self-harming thoughts. I let out a heavy sigh before placing down my fork and standing up. "Well, I'm leaving early tonight. You guys have fun"

"Alright" MacTavish replied as he cut another piece of his meat " 'Night, mate"

* * *

 **[MACTAVISH POV]**

"Well, I'm leaving early tonight. You guys have fun" Angelica said as she stood up from the table.

"Alright" I replied before cutting another piece of meat " 'Night, mate"

My eyes briefly met Ghost's face as he followed her with his eyes until she disappeared behind the door, making me form a mocking smile in my lips.

"I think someone is fancy to the Lieutenant" I teased with a smirk on my face.

"Why don't you go fuck yourself MacTavish" He spat before standing up and leaving, and I couldn't help but to let out a sharp laugh.

"Twonk" I murmured as I saw him leave the cafeteria. I know Ghost, I've noticed he behaves differently around her. I felt the smile starting to form in my lips again as I chewed another piece of meat. I couldn't blame him, Wildfire was cuter than any of us thought, I'll give him that. But even so...I hope that twonk knows what he's doing.


	4. Chapter 4

"Alright... Remember, Switching is always faster than reloading...oh, and don't waste time aiming down your sights" MacTavish instructed as he escorted me towards the CQB test. "You got this, alright? Good luck"

I gave him one respectful nod before preparing my weapon. My eyes trailed back to MacTavish as he headed towards Ghost and Shepherd near the control area, where they were going to supervise my performance inside the test. I was serene and confident I would do a good job. I've practiced endless hours to assure that.

I looked up to the ladder before moving my hands to climb it, feeling the iron stick under my feet as I moved upwards. When I finally reached the top, I grabbed a couple of flashbangs that were placed on top of a big green weapon case, then laid my eyes on the Beretta 92. placed just beside them.

"You can start now" MacTavish announced from below. My hand hesitantly removed my deagle from the case and grabbed the Beretta 92. instead. The Beretta would offer less recoil and more capacity, it was just what I needed to do this as fast as possible. Next, I grabbed two flashbangs and held them in my other hand. I eyed the MP5 placed beside the Berreta before moving away towards the edge of the deck.

"Grab the MP5, Lieutenant" I heard Ghost's scowl from above.

"I'm not going to use it anyway" I muttered as I turned around and annoyingly placed it on my back. I moved my feet back to the edge of the deck and observed the test from up above, trying to anticipate what was waiting for me down there. The first stage was like a big office and I could see the first three pop-up's laying on the ground, ready to jump up as soon as my feet touched the ground. At the far side of the office, it appeared to have some stairs leading to a different level below. So much for anticipating... I guess I would have to go in blind anyway.

I grabbed the rope tightly in my hand and held my breath before sliding down through it. As soon as I touched the ground, I shot the the three pop-ups that jumped in my presence, managing to shoot two of them with just one bullet. Then I ran towards the stairs for the second station, following the red paint that directed me towards it. A pop-up appeared at the end of the stairs and I shot it before it could even end straightening up while storming my way down. The number three and four were painted just beside the two rooms left to clear out, followed by a 'flashbang' sign pointing towards the room.

I threw the flashbang inside the small room and placed two bullets on the two wooden targets that appeared in response of it. The two final stations were in front of each other, and I spotted another 'flashblang' sign painted in a wall near the final station. So I got in the first station to shoot at the targets while immediately throwing a flashbang inside the final station and shot the remaining targets, one successfully through the thin wood as I sprinted my way to the finish line.

The silence during and after the test had me a little bit uneasy. I did not know if that was a good sign or not, and certainly did not want to know. They were murmuring things to each other as I approached them, positioning myself right in front of them and waiting a few seconds before getting bold enough to speak. "How did I do?" I finally asked, and they all turned to see me.

"Your score is..." MacTavish began, making a small pause while forcing an indifferent look in his face, but evidently failing to maintain it when his lips cracked in a smile. "...the best we've got so far" he continued as the smile on his face grew wider.

"14.25 seconds. You didn't exactly follow the rules, but you did a nice job. Well done" was Ghost's comment and I gave him a fond look in response, to which - for my surprise - he gracefully returned.

"You've proved your worth, now let's get down to business" Shepherd's voice rang in my ears, causing me to divert my eyes from Ghost. "Lieutenant, your mission here is to take down a terrorist named Makarov." he continued as he placed his hands behind his back, to stand with authority before us.

"So Makarov is the Prize" I said with a slightly sarcastic voice while crossing my arms over my chest and Shepherd stiffened his face in response, almost as if my comment offended him in any way.

"Makarov's no prize. He's a whore. A mad-dog killer for the highest bidder. That man is fighting his own war and has no rules. No boundaries. He doesn't flinch a torture, human trafficking, or genocide. He's not loyal to a flag or a country or any sets of ideals. He trades blood for money." Shepherd snapped. He seemed to have a big resentment for this 'Makarov' guy.

"So how do I get to know him?" I asked.

"In an undercover mission of the C.I.A , agent Allen infiltrated himself in a Makarov's Op. Thousands of innocents were killed in an airport in Russia and it ended with Allen being K.I.A by Makarov himself. This led the Russians to believe the attack was orchestrated by Americans"

"The Russians ain't gonna let this massacre go unanswered. It's going to get bloody." Ghost acknowledged while crossing his arms over his chest.

"Too right, mate. Now, in the eyes of the world, they are the victims. No one is going to say a word when the Russians club every American they can reach…" MacTavish replied.

"Makarov was one move ahead. Now he's left thousands of bodies at the feet of an American." Shepherd said.

"We are the only ones who know it was Makarov's op. Our credibility died with Allen. We need proof." MacTavish crossed his arms over his chest.

"Follow the shell" was Shepherd's reply just before handing me a folder. The bullets they found in the massacre were actually manufactured by another man.

 **[Location:** **Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.** **Target: Alejandro Rojas.]**

"The target is Alejandro Rojas" Shepherd continued.

"Never heard of him sir." MacTavish admitted as he and Ghost stood beside me to look at the documents as well.

"You may know him as 'Alex the Red'. He supplied the assault." He replied.

"One bullet to unleash the fury of a whole nation. Which means… " MacTavish trailed.

"He's our ticket to Makarov" I stated quietly as I grabbed the tiny picture of Rojas between my fingers.

"Good luck in your mission, Captain MacTavish. You're going to need it" Shepherd said before stretching the Captain's hand. "Lieutenant" he continued and stretched mine to then fetch for Ghost's. It seems I wasn't the main reason of his arrival. Funny, I almost believed he actually had really come just for me.

"How are we going to proceed, Cap?" I asked, handling him the folder.

"I'll call you and Ghost when everything is set up. Get some rest now" he commanded.

"Roger that" I replied.

* * *

The rest of the day went pretty quiet. I didn't do as commanded, instead, I went to the shooting hangar again to practice a little bit more before the mission. When the day began to darken, I gave my weapon to the armory guy and headed back to the barracks. My heart flickered at a different rate when thinking about meeting Ghost. I haven't been able to stop hallucinating his face since the meeting. The way his cheeks lifted when elaborating a soft smile in his face. I was impressed how someone so cold and rough could have so fond and warm eyes.

"Oh, stop it" I muttered to myself as I spotted the barracks. I was just reaching the main door when I felt a pull on my arm, followed by the unmistakable smell of Chloroform and my body went numb before I could react, finally falling into dark abyss.

I gasped awake, after who knows how many hours, and found myself with my hands tied on my back, placed on a chair. My heart hammered hardily against my chest as I struggled my hands in an attempt to break free. My eyes briefly scanned the place, noticing it was no ordinary room, it was an interrogation room. My eyes then trailed to a barrel filled with what appeared to be water at the corner of the room.

Since I was technically 'loose' from the chair, I was begging to stand up when the door in front of me slammed open and I immediately threw myself back on the chair. A tall man walked inside, wearing a black terrorist-like mask.

"Let's start with something easy, shall we?" he began, closing the door behind him before heading towards me.

"Who are you?" he asked. I remained with my eyes fixed in the distant side of the room, absently staring at the door. All my bones were shaking in fear, but I was determined that not a single word was going to get out of my mouth. My eyes closed tightly in reaction of his fist coming from the left side to my face, making me let out a cry of pain when it impacted in my face.

"Who are you?!" He scowled his question.

"Why kidnap me if you don't know who am I in the first place?" I sniped without making eye contact and my face met his burning fist again.

"Let's change the question then. What are the one four one's plans for Makarov?" He demanded with a growl. Alas, the reason of my kidnap had been released. A part of me wanted to tell him, A part of me wanted to end this, but my conscience was forbidding me to open my mouth. I could not betray them. I could not give away the only opportunity they have to catch that bastard.

"Alright" He said when a minute of heavy silence passed and dragged me by my hair towards the water barrel to sink me in it. I tried to pull my head out of it, but I couldn't fight his arm against the back of my head. My arms moved in a useless attempt to push me out of it. I tried to push my way back, but only managed being pushed even deeper into the water. My fighting became pathetic struggles when I felt I was starting to lose consciousness, then he finally pulled me out. I gasped sharpily for air before being thrown to the chair once again, knocking it to the ground along with me and my head bounced hardily against the floor.

"I'm not a very patient man, so you better start talking" My very bones were shivering in fear now. I've never felt more scared in my life. My basic instincts screamed for me to reveal the little I knew about their movements, but my conscience was strongly tightening my throat to remain silent. I saw his blurry figure getting closer to me before feeling a hard kick against my stomach, making the blood in my mouth jolt to the ground.

He then stormed his way out of the room, slamming the door behind him and letting the heavy silence fill the room again. A sob escaped my lips as a couple of tears ran down from my eyes. Blood gushed from the upper left side of my forehead towards the ground, leaving it painted with the red color. The rope was so tight against my wrists it was starting to cut the blood stream to my hands. I felt short of breath, like air just wasn't enough anymore.

I wished this was all just a bad dream. I wished someone was looking for me. I fantasized the idea of Ghost or MacTavish appearing behind that door. How could this happen anyway? How could they get in without anyone noticing? Why did they even grab **me**?

"It doesn't mater now" I painfully whispered to myself. They were going to kill me anyways, so why give them anything? No one was going to come for me.

He came in several times. Same question, same threat, but no answer from my behalf. He tortured me for at least two or three hours straight before leaving again, and that's how it went for at least a day, although it felt like ages were passing with each hour. I was losing something in the process too, I think it was fear. The first ...seven hours... maybe? I did feel fear, but now? now I didn't even remember how it felt. I didn't care if they killed me. I just wanted it to end.

"Ready to talk yet?" he asked as he got in once more. I remained silent, my eyes fixed in the distance. "Just give me something, anything...and I'll set you free" He said with a pleading voice. I glared into his eyes before returning them to the emptiness as water drops slid down my face from my hair. He let out a huge sigh before punching me again, making me collapse in the wall. My eyes then landed on something I haven't noticed before, behind the chair I've been tortured this whole time was a table and a gun was carelessly placed on top of it. I didn't know how I could reach it yet, but it gave me the courage to even try and escape...or at least to end this. He then threw me back to the chair before heading towards the exit.

"Hey!" I growled and he turned around slowly, like he didn't expected me to actually say something after all this time. "What happened? Not man enough to face this?" I said with a taunting smile, and just waited for my plan to snap into action.

He cocked his head to the side as he walked furiously towards me, then grabbed me and pushed me against the wall, pressing my chest against it. "I'll show you who's the man" He groaned just beside my ear and I chuckled in victory.

"Good, I was wondering when that would be" I smirked before slamming the back of my head against him, and when he stumbled back, I flipped and kicked him in the stomach, letting out a raw grunt as I threw him to the ground. Then I jumped above my tied hands so to that they could be in front of me and sprinted towards the table to grab the gun.

He stopped moving the second he saw I was pointing it at him. I removed the safety, but wasn't shooting. Not because I was afraid, but because I didn't know how far I could make it outside. I didn't know where I was, or how many men would be waiting for me out there. That only left me with one choice.

I moved the gun from his direction and pointed it to my head from below my chin. I saw the man widening his eyes in shock just before I quickly tightened mine's and pulled the trigger.

Nothing. It clicked, but nothing happened.

I opened my eyes and pressed the trigger again, but it continued clicking. Then something caught my eye. A wall was now transparent, and for my complete and utter astonishment, MacTavish, Macmillan and Shepherd were standing at the other side.

"Ghost?" I heard MacTavish's voice echoing in the room and the man in front of me gave him one nod in response.

"Impossible..." I pathetically sluttered just before his blue eyes trailed back to me and I got clear of doubts. It was like everything that was happening in front of my eyes wasn't real. I've been tortured for hours...for a day...by the same men I work for? for a fucking test?

"Good luck in Brazil, Lieutenant" I heard MacMillan say and my eyes moved to his form at the other side of the glass, watching how he shook MacTavish and Shepherd's hands.

I jumped back a little when Ghost cut me loose, his blue eyes clenched in mine's the whole time. I shook my head slightly to him in disbelief as I rubbed my damaged wrists before storming my way out of the room.

"Wait" I heard him quietly plead behind me, to which I replied by slamming the door open and getting out the building. I couldn't believe this. I felt...betrayed.

'How could they do this to me? how could **he** do this do me? He hit me! he kicked me- he drowned me!' My mind screamed in anger.

My eyes sought for the sky as soon as I got out, seeing it filled with darkness. My eyes then explored my surroundings, noticing we were still in the base. The place where they held me for all this time was not even that far away from the barracks. My breathing began to accelerate in an alarming rate, letting out a quiet whimper with each breath. How many days...how many hours was I stucked in there?

"Angelica" I felt Ghost slightly pulled my arm and I turned around to slap the shit out of him with all the strength left in me. He placed his hand on his cheek in response of my hit and I saw how his eyes widened behind his dark glasses.

"I trusted you, but I won't make that mistake again" I hissed before storming my way to the barracks.

I got inside the room, slamming the door close behind me while making my way straight to the bathroom. My face wasn't so bad, I mean, it did look like if I've gotten into a fight, but the hit my head took against the ground was even worse and still bleeding. I heard someone got inside the room as I finished examining my injury, letting out an annoyed sigh when I noticed I would need medical supplies to treat it properly. It didn't take a genius to know Ghost was the one who had entered the room, and seeing his face at these moments was not something I wanted to do.

I opened the door and quickly tried to rush my way out in an attempt to avoid any contact with Ghost. I was just successfully opening the door when his hand pushed it close from behind me. I pulled the door handle with more strength but he applied an equally amount of force to keep it closed.

"Turn around" he ordered.

"Let. me. out" I spat before pulling the door handle again, but he was not giving in.

"Turn. the fuck. around" he demanded in a growl. I let out a angry sigh before turning around, instantly feeling shocked when I found him without his mask and my eyes immediately began scanning his uncovered face. He had light brown hair, face white as chalk, a small scar up in his upper lip and his blue eyes suited his face perfectly. I tried really hard to pretend I was not stupefied, but having him that close didn't help me out.

I flinched a little when he gripped my chin between his thumb and finger, tilting my head to examine his work on me. "Come, I brought something for that" he said before turning around, heading towards the nigh table to grab the medical supplies I was actually going to fetch for.

"Sit" he ordered and I walked with reluctance towards the bed and sat on it. He sat beside me and began treating the wounds in my face first, making emphasis in the one in my front head. My eyes explored his face as he did, discovering something new with each movement.

"It was necessary for you to get through this" he said quietly, ending the heavy silence in the room. "Today is me, but tomorrow is them and they wont be so kind with you like I was"

"What was kind? you've created a new definition for brutally" I snorted, briefly meeting his bluish eyes, which caused him to stop and frown at me with complete astonishment and confusion.

"Everything. I could have done so much worse, Angelica. I could've raped you!" he sniped defensively. "There are several ways to make a person talk, and believe me I was **very** soft with you. But you surprised everyone by grabbing that gun and deciding to shoot yourself instead of revealing anything. That was enough proof for everyone."

My eyebrows were still knit in anger as I diverted my eyes from his face towards the ground, slightly shaking my head in denial.

"I know how you feel. You feel betrayed. I won't tell you to feel other way, but keep in mind it was for your own good" He continued before continuing applying hydrogen peroxide to my wound, readying a small and white bandaid for the injury and placing it carefully on it, running a finger over it to stick it properly to my skin.

"In what way was that for my own good?" I hissed, moving away from his tender hands "It was for yours. You thought I was weak enough to reveal anything! Do you have any idea of what you did to me in there? Do you have any idea of what it felt like?!" I snapped and scowled furiously.

"Do not talk to me of torture!" He violently hollered with anger, making me swallow the remaining wordsI had in my throat. "I've tasted its cruelty and venom! I've been tortured in ways your naive mind would never come to imagine!" His hands sought the end of his shirt to lift it up to his chest, revealing the scar I once saw in his ribs. "They hanged me from a tree with a hook!" he said violently before shoving the shirt back to its rightful place. "They brainwashed me until I was not able to to think straight! So do not lecture me of things you know nothing about" He seethed as his eyes flamed hatred before standing to his feet and leaving the room.

I just ...sat there, speechless. Feeling somewhat astonished and ashamed for reacting the way I did.

"Stupid" I silently scolded myself as my finger fetched for the bandaid in my front head. I supported my head on my hands while letting out a low grunt of annoyance. The test itself made sense. No one wants a leak of information. It's just that... I needed time to swallow it. A soft knock on the door made me snap out of my thoughts and I turned my head to its direction as it opened. "Wildfire, We're going to brief the mission" said MacTavish when his head popped from the other side.

"Alright" I replied, still a little startled, and stood up to follow him towards the meeting quarters. Our steps echoed inside the halls as we exited the barracks. The familiar awkward silence filling the air.

"I'm sorry about-"

"You don't need to apologize, Captain" I quickly interrupted. "I'm aware it was a mere test." I gave him a warm smile to stop his apologetic behavior.

"You did good on the test. MacMillian was satisfied" He continued, trailing his eyes back to the path.

"And what about Shepherd?" I asked, when our feet met the new ground.

"He too seemed to be pleased" was his lazy reply.

"...and Ghost?" I trailed out carefully, and I immediately sensed his stare in me "What about him?" he questioned.

"What did he say?" I asked quietly without meeting his eyes.

"We didn't talk after the test, but he gave me the 'approval' nod. The one you saw..." he audibly stopped his feet. "He wasn't enjoying it, Angelica. When he asked you to give him something in exchange of your freedom, it was real. Every time he exited that room was to ask if we had seen enough, but Macmillan kept ordering him to push you lil bit further"

So that's why he left so many times...

"It's alright MacTavish." I began and resumed my walking which made him resume his. "I get why the test was made. So please, even though I look like this...there is no need to apologize. I don't hold any resentments for you or Ghost"

We stopped right in front of the door. "Alright..." he quietly said as he stared at me with wounded eyes.

"MacTavish don't ...don't look at me like that. You're going to make it worse." The worst thing that could happen was me becoming the team's weakness. They could use me against them and that was not the idea. I shouldn't cause them pity or any sense of special protection. I opened the door not wanting to continue the conversation and as soon as I walked in, my eyes met Ghost, who was leaning against a table submerged in thoughts. His eyes instantly jumped to my direction when MacTavish closed the door behind him and I stood there, feeling my whole body freeze at his stare. He lowered his eyes to the ground and stood off the table.

"Alright.." MacTavish began as he prepared the presentation. "This is the guy we're going to be tracking in Brazil"

"Who is that?" I asked when my eyes met the man on the screen.

"Rojas' assistant" Ghost replied, making me slowly trail my eyes towards him.

"He will tell us Rojas' location" MacTavish added.

"What makes you think he will give it away so willingly?" I questioned as my brows elaborated a frown. Mactavish eyes trailed to Ghost, to which Ghost reacted by trailing his eyes to me and I let out a quiet 'oh' in response. Torture... of course.

"Then what?" Ghost continued.

"Then we capture him, get whatever we can out of him and get the hell out of there" MacTavish replied.

"And how are we going to proceed?" I asked.

"The plan is simple.." he began as he showed us satellite images of the place the mission was going take place. "A contact told us that here is where Rojas' assistant is going to be. Roach, Meat, Royce and I are going to try to capture him. You and Ghost will hold here." he said as he draw an 'X' on the place we were to hold position. "Ready to intercept in case he escapes"

My eyes and the Lt's met, both of our arms crossed on our chests.

"Is there a problem?" MacTavish suddenly asked with a frown, noticing our silent stare.

"None, sir. Is that all?" was my indifferent reply.

"Yes, start packing up. We'll leave in minus six hours, so prepare for a heavy 11 hour flight. We'll be arriving Brazil in the late afternoon to start readying things up for the next day"

"Understood, Then may I be dismissed, sir? I think I earned at least three hours of rest"

"Of course..." he replied softly. "dismissed"

"Thank you, sir" I said and turned around to head towards the barracks. I packed just the essentials, then showered and changed to my regular uniform, packing up the one I would use for the mission in the bag. All the gear would be given to us before departure, so I just crashed into bed to finally rest my head on the pillow. I felt too tired to even put the alarm, but I knew either MacTavish or Ghost would wake me up when the time came. Ghost's scolding kept repeating in my head like a broken record, making me let out a scoff in annoyance.

"Stop it brain" I muttered before closing my eyes and letting out a deep sigh. I guess being tortured for a day has its assets, on the bright side, apart from being terribly exhausting, the absence of fear seemed to be its major purpose. It left me prepared for anything.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes:**

 **Heads up:**  
 **Italics + quotation = radio coms!**

* * *

The embassy had prepared two different apartments for us. Since each apartment had three rooms, Ghost, MacTavish and I shared one, and Roach, Meat and Royce shared the other in front of ours. They placed us in a nice and quiet neighborhood near the favela and I had to admit I almost felt like home.

Ghost and I prepared the weapons for the mission as MacTavish prepared the coms radios, testing they were all functional and ready to use. MacTavish and I got a lovely and amusing talk about everything we could think of; Governments, movies, series, places, people, supernatural, you name it.

Ghost, on the other hand, was completely silent and untalkative. He just kept his eyes and hands busy with readying the weapons and nothing else. We haven't said a word to each other since the bitter moment we unfortunately shared. I didn't know how to apologize, and sincerely I didn't see a reason either. I think I had every right to lose it. But even so, that need to apologize was always there, poking my throat to spill the words out every time our eyes met.

After I left the weapons I had armed on the table along with their respective magazines, I told them I would step out for a moment before going to bed. I let out a huge sigh as I walked towards the elevator, but just when I was waiting for it, I saw the emergency stairs along with a small sign that said 'rooftop access'. I decided that would be a more tranquil place to be, so I headed up there.

They day had already darkened and the favela lights clouded the stars, painting the night sky with a light orange color. I didn't feel worried about the mission; Perhaps a little bit anxious - yes - but not worried, at least not for me. I did felt somewhat responsible for the survival of the team. I'm not a God, at the end of the day...I'm just another soldier.

"Nice spot to hide from everyone" said a voice behind me. I closed my eyes as a slight smile formed on my lips. From all the persons I could have expected to come after me, his name was certainly at the bottom of that list, specially because we haven't said a word to each other since that unfortunate discussion. I wished I could let him know how sorry I am...

"Are you alright?" Ghost asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I replied lazily without taking my eyes off the city. "ready for tomorrow?" I asked, now meeting his gaze. Despite the darkness of the night, I could still distinguish the blue of his eyes, even though his dilated pupils almost erased them from sight.

"You never quite feel ready, but I'm confident we can get this done" was his relaxed reply as my eyes explored his features. "Specially now that we got you" he added as he diverged his eyes from mine's.

I formed a slight smile as I looked towards the favela again. I felt confident I could do my job. Like I said, I wasn't afraid for my survival, I was afraid for theirs. I know my one mission was to capture and kill Makarov, but that also included keeping them alive... at least, that was **my** personal mission.

"Oi" Ghost called softly, bursting into my thoughts. "Missions tend to get out of hand. No one is gonna blame you if something goes wrong"

"I don't want to lose anybody, Ghost" I murmured as I formed a pathetic half smile. "I feel responsible for everyone here, specially because I have all eyes on me. I kinda feel like everyone is expecting me to fail..."

"I'm sure you're gonna do the best you can to prevent losing anybody, but you can't save everyone, Wildfire. Keep that in mind. Somethings are just...meant to be." he reasoned tenderly.

I sighed as I lowered my eyes to the concrete of where we were seated, then let out miserable quiet chuckle. "How can you be kind to me after what I said to you?" I questioned, my eyes daring to lift up to him again. Unexpectedly, he cracked a smile before my eyes, making me realize he had the most gorgeous smile I've ever seen. "You worry too much" was his reply, that he so graciously combined with a gentle laugh before standing up and beckoning me to join him inside.

I looked at him perplexed, but not being able to hold a smile as I stood up to follow him. It was a little bit difficult to sleep that night, specially because I was anxious for the upcoming events. "If someone dies, it is out of my hands" I muttered to myself. Even so, I would try to do my best to end this mission as quickly as possible to prevent that from happening.

* * *

Ghost and I reached the position MacTavish designated for us and waited for his sign. We waited for at least an hour before they even came close to our position. I asked Ghost if I could stay for the Interrogation, which he replied that I could. He said that it would be 'good' for me if I saw it.

"Ghost we have a situation here!" we broke eye contact when we heard gun shots in the distance.

"Ghost our driver is dead! We are on foot! Meet us at the Hotel Rio and cut him off if you can!"

"Roger we are on our way!" He said as he beckoned me to follow him down the street. It didn't take long for Rojas' assistant to pop into our line of sight. He was a very fast runner, but so were we. I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him back, throwing him into the ground before pointing at him with my gun.

"Don't. move." I ordered. MacTavish and Ghost grabbed him dragged him to a garage near by and tied him to a chair. Ghost then proceeded to prepare a car battery to be his source of torture as the guy looked at him with a frightened face. Now I knew what Ghost meant when he said he was 'very soft' with me with that test. I wondered if he was doing it on purpose.

MacTavish walked towards the entrance of the garage to help me jump in to then approach Roach.

"Roach, this is going to take some time. Go with Meat and Royce and check out the favela for any signs of Rojas. That's where the guy was headed." He then lowered the gate and made his way to us.

"Ready Ghost?" he asked.

"Aye" was Ghost's reply.

"Are you sure you want to see this?" MacTavish asked as he looked into my eyes, waiting for my answer. I gave him a nod in approval, which he responded with another one.

"Ghost...he's all yours" he said to him.

"You know what we want, so tell us..where is he?" He began as he positioned himself in front of him.

"I WON'T TELL YOU SHIT." Rojas' assistant spat. Although he seemed to be brave in his rebellion, his eyes told the complete opposite. Ghost then attached the two plugs to him and the man screamed his lungs out in response of the electricity flowing through his body. Ghost didn't even react. It was like another day at the office for him...

"Don't waste my fucking time. WHERE IS HE?" Ghost threatened roughly after removing the cables.

I could see in his face how he was starting to surrender, it was impressive really...seeing it from the other side. Even so, It seemed he was more afraid of betraying Rojas than to die electrocuted on a chair. Ghost attached the plugs again and the man pressed his teeth together, trying to endure the electric shock.

"I can do this all day, mate" Ghost barked before removing the cables.

"Meat is down!" Roach notified through the radio. "And I think Royce is down too.." he added.

"Alright, enough of this." I said as I took my gun out and shot him in his leg. The man let out a sharp scream of pain as blood gushed out of the wound, the pain notably taking over his judgement. "C'mon you fucker, it's just a scratch. Worry about the next bullet that it is going to be between your legs unless you tell us what we want. RIGHT NOW" I threatened. "You have three seconds. Three, Two, On-"

"WAIT! wait...he...he was headed to th-the upper side of the favela. There is a safe house over there, but you need to catch him before he reaches it, otherwise you won't be able to get him and he will escape" He managed to stutter before breaking up in tears. I leaned in to approach his face, giving him a soft smile of gratitude. "Thank you" I gently said. "Although, I would've let you live if you wouldn't have cost me two of my teammates life's already" I added with a darker tone before straightening up and pointing my gun to his face.

"No-" he tried to cry, but I took the shot and all the wall behind him splattered with his blood. It almost shocked me that the remorseless part of me was taking over in an alarming rate. I watched with a certain unknown pleasure as blood ran down his head towards the ground and lowered my gun to stick it in the gun case in my leg.

"Roach, do you copy?" I called, turning away from Ghost and MacTavish, who seemed to be startled by my undeniable lack of compassion.

"I'm here" He replied, and I could hear all the gunshots in the background when he did.

"We have Rojas location, He's headed west along the upper levels of the favela. We'll keep him from doubling back on our side, so try to cut him off on top if you can"

"Roger that. I'll try to get there as soon as possible"

"And Roach...be careful, alright?" I said in a softer tone. I didn't want to lose him too. I've lost to many teammates in one day. My first day.

"Copy that" he replied.

I turned to MacTavish as I grabbed my weapon from the ground. "Let's not waste anymore time, shall we?" I said. He waited a few seconds before giving me one nod in response and heading towards the exit, commanding us to follow him.

As we got deeper into the favela, we received more and more heavy fire from Rojas' militia force, so we decided splitting up was the best decision if we wanted to distribute them and not having all of them gathered in one place, and also because it would be easier for us to scout the place for Rojas.

I fired at the militia as much as I could but they were too many and I was quickly running out of ammo. I ran inside of a building as bullets flied over my head and took cover on the second floor. Just when I reached it, a man appeared in front of me holding a AK-47, I grabbed his weapon with my left arm while shooting at his chest with the bullets remaining in my M16, to then throw his lifeless body onto the ground.

"I'm out!" I said as I took the empty mag out of the weapon.

"Where are you?!" Ghost's voice rang in my ear.

"Green house, second floor. Near a market!" I replied as I took my gun out and took cover beside a window.

"Roger, I'm right behind you. Hold position!"

"Where else would I go?" I said with a half smile. I held as long as I could with the seven bullets left in my deagle, making every bullet count, I didn't have choice either way.

I would look over my shoulder from time to time, anxiously waiting for Ghost to appear. In a couple more minutes, he got in through the window and crouched beside me, the wall behind him receiving bullets. He took one magazine he had stored in one of his pockets and gave it to me. "You alright?" he asked as I reloaded my weapon.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Any signs of him?" I asked as I changed the magazine and he saved a few more mags inside one of the pockets of my vest.

"No, but I sense we are close." he replied. I briefly looked towards him and saw Rojas through the window, running on top of the building next to ours.

"There he is!" I said as I pointed at him. we both stood up at the same time to jump to the next rooftop through the window. Climbing buildings was a new thing for me, but since this was a favela, the rooftops were very close to each other which made it much more easier to do.

"Roach we're taking heavy fire from the militia here but I'm still tracking Rojas! Ghost, do you see him?" MacTavish asked.

"Roger that, he's climbing onto a roof carrying a black duffel bag!"

"Well that ought to slow him down! Roach, we are keeping him from doubling back! Keep moving to intercept! Go! Go!"

We ran as fast as we could trying to catch Rojas and let me tell you, that damn duffel bag was certainly not slowing him down. Rojas then dropped to the street and ran between the alleys, so I dropped to the street as well and ran behind him as fast as my legs let me.

"I'm onto him! He's trying to double back through the alleys!" I said.

"Roger that! Stay on him!" MacTavish replied.

After dodging everything he threw at me and jumping every obstacle he jumped through, I was finally catching up to him. My hand was just a few centimeters away from Rojas' shirt, our paces matching as he ran just a few fingers away. I tried to catch him by grabbing his bag, but he made a quick turn to the right and I crashed into a wall.

"Dammit. He's cutting through the market!" I shouted through the mic as I turned to run after him again.

"Roger that! I'll head for the rooftops and try to cut him off! He's going to have no choice but to head west!" MacTavish said.

As soon as I entered the market the militia began to shoot at me, and Ghost pulled me back grabbing my waist as bullets flew towards my direction.

"Fuck!" I cursed when I felt a bullet grazed my thigh, my hand instantly landing on the place.

"We cant get in there. We have to find another way around" Ghost said as he released me. I immediately moved my eyes to Rojas as he disappeared from my sight. My eyes then searched for a different path to follow him and found an alley that could lead us to him again. If MacTavish succeed in cutting him off, then he would have no option but to head that way.

"Come on!" I said as I ran towards it. My leg hurt but not enough to make me stop. Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the drug, I didn't care either way. All I cared about was not losing track of him. Our lone footsteps were the only thing audible apart from the distant fireshots. Then, Rojas footsteps on the roof above us caught my attention and MacTavish was right behind his tail. I saw he got inside a upper room of a building, MacTavish also jumping inside but from there we had no sight of him.

"He's going to get away!" Ghost screamed.

"No he's not." MacTavish calmly said, followed by glass breaking and him tackling Rojas down the building to pin him on a car below.

"Frontrunner, this is Bravo Six, We've got the package. I repeat, we've got the package." MacTavish reported as he pointed his gun against Rojas' head.

I hobbled towards a car to lean against it and check my leg.

"Command, ready for dustoff. Send the chopper. Coordinate the follo-. Bollocks! The skies are clear. Just send the Chopper now!" Ghost ordered.

I lifted the piece of cloth that the bullet tore when it hit me and saw the bullet did grazed my leg, deeply. I would probably need stitches when we get back. My eyes met MacTavish's as he turned to me with a half smile on his face, but it wiped as soon as he saw how blood poured out of the wound, leaving my pants tinged with it.

"Wildfire, are you okay?" he asked with a disturbed face and Ghost quickly stood up to rush towards me.

"I'm fine" I replied as Ghost placed a hand in my injury to then instantly look at his hand, which now were tinted with my blood. He helped me sit down on the ground to then head towards MacTavish.

"How does it look?" MacTavish asked him, remaining with his gun pressed against Rojas' head.

"She should be fine" he replied as he hurriedly search for a canteen and some bandages in the MacTavish's infinite vest pockets. I trailed my eyes back to my leg and broke the fabric that surrounded the wound. Ghost came back and began to wash the blood away from my injured leg with the canteen."Command! Send that Chopper. Now!" he repeated trough the mic.

"They are not answering, Ghost" said Roach as he handled him some gauze. Strange I didn't noticed his presence before, perhaps I was too preoccupied with this thing to even notice. "We're on our own" he added as Ghost grabbed the gauze.

"I'm glad you're okay, Roach" I said as Ghost treated my leg and he gave me a kind smile in return. I groaned while cursing when Ghost wrapped the bandage around my injury, tying it with a strong knot and I could swear I saw all the colors of the rainbow when he tightened it

"For fucks sake, Ghost! Do you treat all the injuries like this?!" I spat, removing his hand from my leg. He replied with a quiet chuckle as he loosened the knot a little bit.

"Fucker" I said with a half painful smile as I slightly pushed him away. He chuckled as he lend me his hand to stand up. "Can you walk?" he asked. I took a few steps before answering "Yeah...I think I'm alright"

"How are we going to get out of here?" Roach asked, making me break eye contact with Ghost.

"I know a guy. Let's find a payphone. Those things still exist, right?" MacTavish replied as he tied Rojas' hands. I frowned as I walked towards MacTavish.

"Captain...are we going to take him with us?" I asked quietly. He shook his head. "You know what to do" he said to me before trailing his eyes to Ghost, which he responded with one nod.

Ghost dragged Rojas from his tied hands to a blind alley. He then tied his hands on a window grating and went to find something to torture him. I studied Rojas from above, he responded by deviating his grim and scared eyes elsewhere. After a few minutes, Ghost came back with another car battery. It seemed electricity was his favorite way of torture...

"You know what we want" he started, but Rojas' eyes were not meeting his. Ghost plugged in the cables in the window grating, making Rojas' body shake with the electricity running through his body. After a few beatings and a couple of electric shocks, he looked ready to talk. Ghost really was soft with me that day... I think he was making sure I realized it.

"...All I know is that Makarov has someone locked up in a gulag, someone important...someone he hates more than Americans"

"And who is he?" Ghost asked, his voice threatening and harsh as always.

"I don't know..." He said and I could see desperation in his eyes. I let out a heavy sigh before meeting Ghost's eyes.

"I don't know! please! I don't know!" Rojas desperately pleaded.

"We believe you" I said as Ghost borrowed me his gun. "But that's not gonna save you" Ghost added before I took the shot, splattering the wall behind him with blood.

I returned the gun to Ghost and he placed it on the gun case on his leg before walking away, me following him from behind.

"What did you got?" MacTavish asked as we approached him.

"All we got out of Rojas is that Makarov has someone locked up in a gulag, someone he hates more than Americans. Rojas didn't know who it was but I bet he's going to be useful for us" Ghost said.

MacTavish grabbed his gun and began to stick in some bullets inside his magazine. "If this prisoner can bait to catch that psychopath, let's hang him from a tree."

Ghost and I exchanged glances. "Nikolai is coming for us, so lets get moving" He continued as he leaded the way back to the street.

* * *

We ran through the favela as the militia breathed under our neck, surrounding us with each step we took. It was like the best was saved for the end. More than two hundred militia men just for us.

"Nikolai! We're at the top of the favela surrounded by militia! Bring the chopper to the market, do you copy, over!?"

"Ok, my friend. I am on the way!" said Nikolai in his Russian accent.

"Funny he's Russian" I said "it's good to know at least one of them is still on our side."

"Tangos dead ahead!" Ghost shouted and everyone took cover while shooting at the militia.

"Try to get to the market! We have to get on that chopper!" MacTavish shouted. The amount of militia made me wonder if the whole country belonged to it. They just kept coming like rats. It took us some time to clear the area and to finally reach the LZ.

"It's too hot! We will not survive this landing!" said Nikolai when we arrived the extraction point.

"Nikolai, wave off! Wave off! We'll meet you at the secondary LZ instead! Go!" MacTavish replied.

"We need to get out of here!" Roach shouted as bullets flied over his head. We continued the shooting to clear the area and as soon as we managed to do it, we ran towards the house in front of us and climbed to its roof to run towards the new extraction point.

"My friend! From up here, it looks like the whole village is trying to kill you!" said Nikolai.

"Tell me something I don't know! Just get ready to pick us up!" MacTavish responded. Right now, I thanked God the houses were this close to each other. It let us avoid all the militia men waiting for us on the streets.

"We are running out of rooftop!" Ghost shouted as he pointed towards a great gap between roofs.

"We can make it! Jump!" screamed MacTavish. We jumped from one building to another and harshly landed on the next rooftop. I instantly looked back and saw Roach struggling with his arms to remain on top. I ran and slid towards him, taking out my arm for him to grab.

He caught my arm just in time, but I let out a piercing scream when I felt my shoulder sled out of place, and I lost strength of my entire right arm.

"MacTavish!" I shouted, but he was already helping Roach climb up. I felt a pull of my shirt, helping me get back up. Ghost pressed his hand on my back rushed towards the helicopter.

"We are in! Take us out of here!" MacTavish shouted, and the chopper moved away from the favela. I couldn't focus on anything but the pain I was feeling in my arm. I grunted when a pair of arms grabbed my right arm.

"This is going to hurt" Ghost warned before Roach and MacTavish held me in place and he pulled my arm. I let out another scream but this time, I felt my shoulder pop in place again.

I moved my eyes to Roach, then to MacTavish and started laughing. We had made it out of that madness. They just looked at me and frowned with a smile on their faces, unsure of what was happening.

"Thank you" I heard Gary say, placing his hand on my back.

I smiled. "I would go through it again, mate, but next time…" I continued, and cup his face with my hand. "Try not to rip my arm off"


	6. Chapter 6

Returning to the base had a different taste. Everything look the same, yes, but that wasn't entirely true; Everything was changed. Meat was no longer with us, and neither was Royce. Even though we didn't have a nice start, and perhaps we didn't even talked that much, no one deserves such death. To lie wounded in an unknown land, bleeding to death and have no one with you holding your hand.

Something changed within me as well, I knew something was different. I felt different. Like when you do something you know has no turning back.

The day had that nostalgic weather. It was drizzling gently and the skies were painted in a bright orange color. I went straight to the infirmary to get my leg stitched, fighting arduously with my eyes to not fall asleep in the process, although the nurse was surely preventing it with her endless talk. It isn't that I didn't appreciate her asking me how it was to be part of a male team or if I was dating someone or if I found someone attractive on the team, you know... the usual girl talk, but I really just wanted her to shut up. Although... that would be the tiredness talking, not me. When she finally finished I headed back to the quarters. The mission kept repeating in my head, all the men I killed, all the eyes I shut for good.

I felt stress building in my shoulders, like a late reaction from all day. Ghost wasn't on the room yet, so I locked myself in the bathroom and turned the shower on. I looked myself in the mirror before taking my clothes off. I looked so...destroyed. I was covered in dirt, my face looked like I haven't slept for days and my pants were damp in blood, my blood. So much for my uniform...it was a total waste. I didn't look...like me. I looked like a complete other person.

I let out a heavy sigh before entering the shower. The water splashed against my skin as some drops slid down my face. My body was there but my mind was not. The face I couldn't forget... The face that still haunted me...belonged to Rojas' assistant. The man I killed so coldly and mercilessly. He was just a boy really, he didn't even seem to be older than me. He maybe even was my age, twenty five years old...

I wondered what had lead him there. What had lead him to that specific and precise moment. How someone so young could be involved in something so big?

A soft chuckle escaped my lips when I realized I was on the same plate. After getting myself recognizable again, I dressed up with the new uniform, disposing of the old and ruined one before opening the door and a small window to let the steam dissipate. I walked back to the mirror and supported my hands on the cold sink, fixing my eyes on the bottom of it. The image of me shooting his head ran over my head multiple times. It was torturing me. Who was I to make that choice? I moved my eyes from the sink to the mirror in front of me and saw Ghost's reflection on it. He was leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest, his face uncovered for the feast of my eyes.

"Is everything alright?" he asked as he examined my face through the mirror. I pressed my lips into a straight line and nodded in response.

"You should get some rest" he added before getting inside the room. "Today was a long day"

I gave one nod to myself before turning off the bathroom's light and heading towards the bed.

* * *

I jumped when I heard my phone ringing on top of the night table beside the bed. I rolled over and my hand sought for the phone until my fingers finally touched it.

"Hello?" I asked tiredly, briefly looking towards Ghost who was still sleeping on his side.

"You need to come to the lab, now" Wheathley mumbled.

"What? Why? What time is it?" I asked as I glanced over my watch. It was 8:20 p.m., what was Wheathley doing at the lab?

"hello?" I said when I heard no response from him, then looked over my phone and noticed he had hang up on me.

"What the hell" I mumbled as I tossed the phone away and sat up to put on my boots. I grabbed my jacket and headed towards the door, closing it gently behind me to avoid waking up Ghost. My harsh footsteps echoed in the lone hallway as I headed towards the exit. Now all I needed was a way to get there. Hopefully they'll had a jeep I could borrow.

The lab seemed so desolated at night, it always gave me chills. The lights were automatic so they turned on as I walked through the hall, approaching Wheathley's office. I opened the door but found no one inside. I frowned as I called for him... but nothing. I turned around and jumped out of my skin when I saw him standing in the middle of the hall with a lot of papers in his hands.

"Jesus Christ, Wheathley! don't fucking do that!" I hissed as I placed a hand on my chest, feeling my heart hammering inside it.

"Sorry" he replied with an apologetic tone as he walked passed me, entering his office before telling me to shut the door behind me. He leaned on his desk, looking down at the papers he held on his hands.

"Wheathely...I know that face. Tell me whats going on" I said quietly as I held my stare in his eyes. He removed his glasses before lifting his eyes to me.

"Angelica...how have you been feeling lately? all good?" he asked.

"Well, yes... why?" I frowned at his sudden question.

"Because I ran the results a little bit farther and according to this...the effects are going to wear off. You did take it in for quite a lot longer, but you'll begin to have cognitive and physical deterioration until...well, you know. The ugly part..."

His words felt like cold water been thrown at my face. My body was completely frozen in shock. "What...? I don't..." I barely got out.

He came closer to give me the papers and my eyes scouted the data, eventually finding the results. If the effects were indeed wearing off, that would explain my sudden care for Rojas' assistant. After all, I wasn't supposed to feel pity in any kind.

"so what now?" I asked, trying hardly to maintain my sanity in line. I didn't want to die, no one wants to die, but If I wanted to find a way to survive, desperation and fear were not the answer.

"Well, I did came up with something. It's not definite, I'm still figuring that out, but I did come up with this" he said before showing me a thick military necklace.

"a necklace?" I questioned as I approached him with a raised brow. He shook his head and slid open one side of the necklace, revealing its content. Inside were stored some red small rounded pills.

"What is this?" I asked as I held the necklace on my hand and took out one pill.

"Your new companions" he replied and my eyes instantly met his "You'll have to take one of this every three days. And since I wasn't able to translate all the serum into one pill..." he began as he closed the small compartment and flipped the necklace to slide open the other side. "I had to make one for cognitive and one for physical. **purple** is cognitive, **red** is physical. Every three days, until I figure a way to make it viral that is"

"What if I come here to help you?" I asked as I closed the small compartment and grabbed the necklace.

"No. You have other things to do, let me handle this. Just focus on getting the job done over there."

"Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly, my eyes waiting for his answer "what? don't you trust me now? I thought we were partners" he replied with a grin on his face, making me let out a quiet chuckle.

"Take care of them" he continued while pointing at the pills with his head. "If you lose them, you'll have to wait until the lab makes them again, so hold on tightly to them alright?" He warned and I responded with a nod before wrapping the necklace around my hand.

"It is kinda disappointing the first necklace you give me is filled with drugs" I said with a teasing smile. He let out a gentle laughter in response as he crossed his hands over his chest. "Go on, leave. I was already getting used to not seeing your face around here" he replied with a grin.

"Prick" I murmured with a small smile before heading towards the door. I turned around one last time to see his face before leaving. He looked tired. It seems he had to double his work in my absence. I could see his struggle to find a way to keep me alive. The way he explained everything made it sound it was as easy as making a boiled egg, but I knew it wasn't. First, he had to see if the pills were even going to work, second he had to do all the chemistry to separate the two enhancements and store them in different pills. He also had to calculate how much was my system going to take before kicking the out chems and I knew it was no easy job. Considering that, I wasted no time into swallowing the first two.

It was late in the night, or well...early in the morning, when I found my way back to the barracks. The base was covered with a thin white mist of morning and the silence could deceive anyone into believing it was abandoned. It was quite enjoyable actually. I gently opened the door believing Ghost was still asleep, but for my surprise he was sitting at the desk, his head supported against his hand and he was reading some documents, but when I got inside he turned his head to me and his blue eyes met me.

"What are you doing up? You seem tired" I asked as I closed the door behind me, trying my best to avoid any questions towards me.

"Shepherd called, he wanted me to learn everything I could about the gulag before the debrief" He replied tiredly as he ran a hand through his face. The dark bags under his eyes highlighted under his pale skin and his eyes looked even bluer because of it.

"What have you learned?" I asked as I leaned on the desk, my face just beside him as I examined the documents between his hands.

"It has a long history. It started out as a castle, built to withstand any siege. It was used in many occasions during war times. Over the last century it's played host to anyone the government didn't want but couldn't kill. The place is filled with living casualties of the last war...which I swear I thought we'd won" he said as he massaged his neck, his finger tips whitening in response to the pressure he was applying to it. "I also saw the infrastructure of the place, it's built almost like a maze."

I examined the blueprint of the place. It did seem to be built like a maze, I guess it was to prevent anyone from escaping the place.

"And when is the debrief?" I asked as I turned to leave the jacket on my bed.

"Tomorrow" he answered before audibly closing the folder and standing up from the chair to throw himself to his bed. I put on the military necklace around my neck and got into bed, resting my head on the pillow while letting out a tired sigh. I moved my head to the left and found Ghost stare at the other side of the room.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, his blue eyes expecting my answer.

I nodded in response before returning my eyes to the ceiling. "I'm just tired..." I let out quietly before closing my eyes. When he turned off the light I felt more relieved. I know I didn't act like it...but I was scared. I was scared that I was going to be dependent on pills forever.


	7. Chapter 7

The debrief took place early in the morning. I wasn't terribly excited about it, but it was my duty to attend to it. Ghost woke me up when my alarm failed to do it and I didn't even try to hide my annoyance at it. I never was a morning person, and just because my exhaustion is reduced doesn't mean I don't need to rest at all. I only got one damn fucking hour of my eyes shut, not even got the time to dream a fucking thing. I think it would have been best to just stay up instead of having my body taste a little bit of rest.

I don't even know how I dressed, because before I knew it, we were already heading towards the meeting.

"You look tired" Ghost's voice appeared in my numb ears.

"I think I needed a couple more hours" was my reply before letting out a yawn, feeling tears form in my eyes in response. "But don't mind me. I'll get some rest later."

Our boots hit hardily the new floor beneath out feet as we approached the meeting room, shortening the distance with each step.

"Just don't fall asleep in Shepherd's face" He warned with a grin just before entering the quarters.

"General." I saluted him when we passed through the door.

"At ease, Lieutenant" he commanded and I stood with my arms on my back "I've been informed of your performance in the last mission, I expected no less from you."

I smiled as I briefly trailed my eyes to the Captain "Thank you, sir"

"What's the next assignment, sir?" Ghost's voice suddenly appeared behind me, making me slightly jump in the spot. Shepherd clicked some things on his laptop and a map projected on the wall in front of us. "Seems we're headed the wrong direction, Sir. Shouldn't we be coming back to the fight?" MacTavish asked as I crossed my arms on my chest, examining the images in front of us.

"Plenty fight to go around, MacTavish. Glad you made it outta South America. You're meeting up with the 6th fleet. Leadin' the counter-strike."

 **[Russia. "The Gulag", prisoner #627]**

"Prisoner Six-two-seven. We believe that's who Makarov's got the mad-on for. But we can't get to him." He continued as he showed us where the prison was versus what was stopping us from reaching it. Our main problem were oilrigs located near the Russian territory.

"Oilrigs, sir?" MacTavish asked.

"Russians are using them as SAM sites. Oil workers are human shield, so we can't just blow up the rigs wholesale. And this is one of the least defended." He then showed us all the weapons that were stored on those things.

"Boys" he then turned to me "Lady. I know I'm sending you into the meat grinder on this one. They're defending it, so it means we want it. Especially if it get us to Six-two-seven. Captain, select the team members you want participating on this mission, take into account you'll be traveling by submarine. The navy will be joining us on this one. You're being deployed tomorrow, dismissed."

After the meeting I left straight away to the gym, straight to the heavy bag again. Training a little may be enough to wash away the slumber. Even though I wore gloves, it still hurt my bones every time my fist fiercely hit the bag. I let out a cry of strength before kicking the boxing sack, making it loose from the ceiling and falling loudly onto the ground. I stared at the bag before falling into the ground and laying my back on the cold floor as my chest rose up and down from my hastened breathing, finally closing my eyes when exhaustion took over my body.

* * *

My ears focused on the wonderful tickling sound of the clock. I was thankful the gym had remained completely empty these hours I've been here. At least I regained my energies with those few hours of sleep. No one bothered me and the silence was pleasantly intoxicating.

The door opened and a familiar scent filled the room, along with footsteps only I could recognize. I formed a smile on my lips as I moved my head up to see him.

"Did the heavy bag got the best of ya'?" Ghost asked while walking towards me. I formed a grin on my face. "He and I got into an argument, but I showed him who's in charge" I replied teasingly as I moved my eyes to it, finding it still laying on the ground and the wall above it leaving in evidence I ripped the chain with it.

He stood up in front of me to lend me his hand and helped me get back on my feet. "At least this time you were wearing gloves. I guess you are listening to me after all "

"And when have I not?" I replied as I massaged my neck. I guess being on the floor for all morning and afternoon wasn't the greatest idea.

"Well, since you're already here. why don't we go for a few rounds?" He said as he removed his balaclava, my heart stopped when his face appeared beneath it and the half smile he had on his face almost got me on my knees again.

"didn't get enough last time? " I teasingly said while raising a brow. He cracked a smile as he rolled up his sleeves.

"you got lucky last time..." he began as he walked closer to me, stopping right in front of me, compelling me to look up at him"it wont happen again" He muttered with a grin before stepping back, and I formed a devilish smile in response.

We examined one another by walking in ritualized circles, waiting for one of us to start. The fight felt different this time. It was filled with something else. It took pace really quickly and we fought with an equal mixture of fury and desire. I threw a kick to him, which he dodged by crouching and answered by launching his fist towards me and I stopped it with my arm, pushing it away. It went like that for a while, moves and counter moves, it was almost like a dance for dominance, but he was getting better. In one of his punches I grabbed his arm to off-balance him and roll him over my shoulder, but for my surprise he landed on his feet and immediately pushed me against the wall.

I stopped the knee that he aimed at me and dogged the fist that was coming my way by docking while spinning to then push him against the wall. He formed a grin in his face as he waited for me to continue, our breathings matching one another as he leaned against the wall. Fighting was starting to wake this...appetite for him in me and the way he looked at me revealed I was not the only one.

I threw my final kick at him, but he grabbed my leg and threw me to the ground, using his whole weight to succeed and I gripped into his shoulders to remain rigid and absorb the impact my back was going to receive against the mat, letting out a groan when it finally impacted. He held me in a way I was not able to move in any way, his strong fingers still digging into my thigh as our chests pushed against each other with each breathing.

His face just centimeters away from mine. Time had lost meaning to me now, my heart stopped and my breathing ceased. I could do nothing but stare at his light blue eyes, feeling my eyes slowly traveling to his pale lips. His breath was so inviting I felt compelled to tilt up my head and just... let it happen, but before I could even think about moving a muscle, he was already standing.

He cleared his throat, not daring to meet my gaze.

"as you were, Lieutenant" he quickly dismissed himself before turning around and heading towards the exit, leaving me speechless and utterly rooted to the ground.


	8. Chapter 8

It was a long way to Russia from our location, so we spent a good amount of hours inside the submarine. That left me with a awful lot of time to think. My hand cupped the special necklace hanging in my neck and I let out a quiet sigh as I tightened my hand around it.

I felt numb. Daydreaming about Ghost. Was it possible though? I'm more than sure this kind of things are not allowed in this kind of fields anyway and I shouldn't allow myself to fall for it. That wasn't my purpose. My presence here had one purpose and one purpose only, the assassination of Makarov. I don't care what my stupid brain says; It can't be and it won't happen. The last thing I want is having Shepherd or MacMillan scolding me about things that I can't do. And besides, why would he like me?

"Nothing happened, so get it out of your head" I rambled to myself.

Suddenly, a loud buzzer rang throughout the submarine as a red light flickered in the narrow hallway outside, meaning we were close to objective. I stood up from where I was and made my way towards the detach point, passing through the halls to reach the main hallway. My body slowed down responding to the freezing current that made my muscles turn to stone at the sight of Ghost walking towards me from the other end of the hallway. He had his balaclava on already, but his eyes were still visible, allowing me to see how he clenched them in me. His eyes then trailed towards a pair of footsteps that echoed from behind him, revealing MacTavish and Roach were following his tail.

Ghost returned his gaze to me before walking right pass me to enter the detach room. I formed a poor smile before greeting MacTavish and Roach, immediately following them into the room. We entered different compartments filled with water, inside was a machine that would facilitate and hasten our movement under the sea, something like an "underwater watercraft". The craft required a driver to work, so as soon as the compartment opened, the man drove out of the submarine. I could feel the cold water against my suit as the sea pressed hard against my body. It took us a few minutes to reach the oilrig, but just a few seconds to swim up to the surface.

"We'll take them out at the same time" said MacTavish to Roach as two hostiles came into view from below the ramp. "On your go…" Roach positioned himself below one of the ultranationalist and dragged him under water while MacTavish did the same on the other side, the rest of us climbed to the deck and began to take off the swimming gear we had on, remaining only with the dry uniform and of course, our weapons.

I put on my vest and strapped the gun case to my leg, tightening it tightly. I was just placing my gun inside when it slipped from my hand, lading near Ghost's feet. He was already standing, waiting on MacTavish's orders when he redirected gaze towards the gun with judging eyes. He looked at it for a second before crouching and grabbing the gun to then walk towards me. He stood right in front of my face, making me tilt up my head in response to the difference of heights. Then I felt a rough pull in my leg, feeling the gun slip inside the gun case, he then lowered his sun glasses to his eyes and left. Until that moment I didn't realize I'd stopped breathing, and let out the air I had retained in my lungs.

"Two hostiles down in section One-Alpha. Moving up to section two." MacTavish reported as he walked to the stairs to head up the oilrig.

"Roger that, Hotel Six" replied the submarine's commander.

He nodded and made a gesture with his fingers, signaling us to start moving up. "Keep it tight, people." he said we climbed up the stairs.

"Got a visual on the railing." Ghost notified.

"Free to engage. Suppressed weapons only" MacTavish commanded. I crouched and stealthily made my way towards the man as I took my knife out from my back, then when I was right behind him, I tapped his shoulder making him turn around and sliced his throat. "Who needs guns?" I said as I threw the body off the rail.

"Nicely done. We're clear." Ghost confirmed. I smiled a little in victory to his praise and rejoined the group.

"Civilian hostages at your position, watch your fire" warned the sub Commander.

"Roger that. Team-One moving to breach." MacTavish replied.

Ghost and Roach positioned themselves behind one door, and MacTavish and I behind the other; the marines waiting for our call. As soon as MacTavish planted the C4, the door blew up and we fired at the hostiles inside. "We're clear" I said as I reloaded my weapon and briefly looked towards Ghost as he was too reloading his weapon.

"Hostages secured in section Two-Echo" MacTavish notified to command as the marines proceeded to release the hostages.

"Roger that, Hotel Six. Team 2 will secure and evac, continue your search topside." Command replied.

"Ok, move upstairs" he said to us. Part of the marine's team stayed behind to take the hostages somewhere safe meanwhile we advanced towards the next objective. "Control-we're advancing to Deck Two" MacTavish announced.

"Eyes open. Watch your sectors." He said as I trailed my scope from side to side, checking every corner I could see.

"Enemy Helo patrolling the perimeter. Keep a low profile, Hotel Six." Command advised.

"Roger that." was Mactavish's answer as we approached the door. "Don't let that helo see you." He warned us.

"Roger that" I replied before heading outside. The sun was already setting, managing to illuminate only the left side of our bodies. The helo appeared into view coming from the right, scouting the floor we were in.

"Enemy helo, get out of sight!"

We took cover behind some barrels and containers that were close to us, waiting for it to pass. I listened how the helicopter fluttered behind us, watching the steam leave my mouth in an anticipating breathing. Being spotted meant trouble, and that's the last thing we need. As soon as the helo moved to another area, we continued our way to the next section.

"Hotel six, more hostages are at your position." Command warned us.

"Roger that. To your positions." MacTavish commanded.

This time Ghost and I were behind one door and MacTavish and Roach were behind the other, the marines once again watching our backs. Ghost placed the C4 and as soon as the door blew up, I shot all the hostiles I could see.

"Clear" confirmed Ghost for me as I reloaded my weapon.

"Control- all Deck-Two hostages secured." MacTavish said and suddenly a voice began to speak through the speakers that were on top of the room.

"Enemy radio… I think we're going to have company, sir…" Ghost said to MacTavish. I watched the expression of MacTavish as he closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

"Set up for plan B. Get some C4 on those bodies, Go." He commanded to Ghost as he opened his eyes again. Ghost and Roach crouched to plant the C4 on the bodies as MacTavish and I shared a long lasting stare. This plan B meant bad business. It would have been nice to just.. go all the way with the stealth.

"C4 placed, sir" Ghost stated as he stood up. MacTavish then turned away from me and walked towards the exit of the room. "Get to an elevated position. We'll ambush them when they discover the bodies."

We climbed a scaffolding near the room we were in and held position there until told otherwise. We waited for a few minutes before the patrol appeared coming up from the stairs at out right."There's the patrol. Hold your fire until they're closer."

"Stand by…Stand by..." MacTavish commanded as he observed the hostiles' moves. I looked through the scope and held my breath, ready to shoot.

"Do it!" he commanded to Roach, making him activate the C4 and the whole room blew up, signaling us to open fire at the ultranationalists that had survived the blast.

"Control, this is Hotel Six. Our cover is blown." MacTavish reported as he jumped down the scaffolding.

"Copy that, Intel indicates hostages and possible explosives on the top of the deck. Your team needs to secure that position before we can send in reinforcements to handle the SAM sites, over."

"Roger that. Will call for exfil at LZ bravo." He turned to us and the expression on his face was different. This is not the MacTavish I once knew. His face was more serious and committed. "CentCom needs us to take the top of the deck ASAP so they can send in the marines. Move." He commanded with a serious voice.

We began to push towards the ultranationalists to head to the top of the deck. We took cover behind everything we could and I took advantage of all the things that were flammable to cause an explosion near the ultranationalist every time I could. At least that worked to clear the path in more than one time.

"Hotel Six, hostages from lower deck are being extracted by team 2. Proceed to the top of the deck ASAP to secure the rest, over."

"Copy that, we are working on it. Out!" MacTavish responded. The ultranationalists just kept coming out, it was an endless process, and to add more fun to it, the helo appeared to say hi.

"Enemy helo! Take cover!" MacTavish shouted. I was running towards what appeared to be an engine room when I felt a pull on my vest, making me step back to cover. I glanced back to see Ghost being the one responsible before returning my eyes to my front and witnessing the chopper spraying its bullets to where I would've been if it not were for him. We took cover behind the metal container until it stopped firing, then we sprinted towards the room, but the chopper fired at something flammable behind us, making us fly through the door frame and land harshly on the floor inside the room.

For a brief moment I couldn't hear, see, or feel anything. But then a painful heat slowly appeared in one side of my body, matching it with a sharp beeping sound ringing in my ears.

A grunt escaped my lips as I moved with difficulty to face Ghost.

"you okay?" I faintly asked him and received a weak frenetic nod in response. His eyes were still closed as he rolled over his back. Our hands sought for each other for the first time, his cold fingers softly pressing my hand. Our hands clang together as if they were the only thing holding the other to the earth. His mask was a little bit burnt on the side. I tugged it down a little bit to see if his face was burnt as well, but thankfully it wasn't. Although, blood was streaming out from a wound I was not able to see.

"Chopper is down! Nice shooting, Roach!" I heard the captain's voice through the intercom.

"Come on, get up" I said as I pulled his arm to help him. MacTavish appeared from behind me and helped me walk Ghost over to a wall. "Are you guys alright?" he asked as he helped Ghost sit down.

"I'll get back to you on that, first let me check him" I said as I removed the lieutenant's sun glasses and lifted his mask to scout where was the blood coming from, finally founding it's source. I grabbed a gauze stored in one of my pockets and place it on top of the injury on the upper left side of his forehead while my eyes scanned for any other injury. The side where his mask burnt was a little bit reddish and swollen, but apart from that, everything was good. I rolled down his mask to make it the one that held the gauze in place.

Ghost then moved his fingers to my neck, showing me blood was streaming out my left ear. I immediately placed my hand on my neck to clean away the blood.

"How are you feeling, mate?" MacTavish asked from behind me. Fire shots could still be heard ahead of us, our teammates doing the best they could to push them back, so I understood his urgency to continue.

"I'm alright. Let's continue" was Ghost's reply as stood up, making me mimic his actions. MacTavish nodded in response before giving us our weapons.

"Let's carry on, then" he said and turned around to walk towards our other teammates, ordering them to start pushing forward. I was starting to follow them when I felt a soft tug on my arm.

"Oi, Are you alright?" he asked, tenderly touching my neck to examine it.

"Yeah." I replied, giving him soft smile before moving away from his touch. A few seconds of silence passed as we stared to each other. He gave me one nod and moved to follow the rest of the team. "Thank you... for doing what you did back there" I said softly, making him halt.

"The clock's ticking. We need to get topside and secure any remaining hostages before we call in the Marines." I heard MacTavish's voice coming out from my earphone. I held my stare in his eyes for a few seconds more before walking towards the exit and joining the team.

"Target two of clock!" Roach warned. I moved my arm towards the hostile and shot him faster than he could react.

"Nice" said MacTavish.

"Split up. We can flank through these hallways." I said, still cleaning the blood off my neck.

"Alright folks, you heard the ma'am. Leg it!" Ghost ordered, and all the soldiers split up, obeying his orders.

"Did you just called me ma'am?" I asked, smirking at his words. Roach and the other guys from the other team went upstairs, while Ghost, MacTavish and I advanced from below. when we killed every remaining ultranationalist in that floor, we advanced up to the next one.

"Let's go! Those hostages ain't going to rescue themselves. Move up!" MacTavish commanded. When we reached the top of the deck, we found it covered with smoke so Ghost told us to activate the smokescreen to be able to spot the targets.

"All teams be advised, these guys are a step up-they're using thermal optics to see through the smoke."

We shot all the hostiles we could as we pushed our way through, advancing towards the hostages' location while flanking through some cargo containers.

"Hotel Six, be advised, hostages have been confirmed at your location along with the possible explosives, over."

"Copy that. All teams check your fire – we don't know what's behind these doors." MacTavish warned. "Get a frame charge on the door. We'll hit the room from both sides." MacTavish said as I ran towards the other door to place the charges on it and Roach placed the other ones in the other side. Ghost nodded me as a sign that he was ready, and the door exploded. The wood from the door flew through the air as Ghost and Roach fired at the hostiles.

"Clear" said Roach.

"Control, all the hostages have been secured. I repeat-all hostages secured. Proceeding to LZ Bravo, over." MacTavish said.

"Good Job, Hotel Six. Marine reinforcements are inserting now to dismantle the SAM sites. Get your team ready for phase two of the operation, out." said Command as we made our way to the extraction point.

"Today is going to be a long day" I mumbled as I watched how the first heli landed to pick up the first group.

"Tired already?" MacTavish said teasingly as he walked right past me, heading towards the chopper. I replied with half haggard smile and he widely smiled in response as he sat on the rail of the chopper until it lifted from the floor. I redirected my gaze towards Ghost as he approached me and he chuckled at my defeated expression. "C'mon. We're up." He placed a hand on my back as the other chopper landed to pick us up, leading me towards it.

This was going to be a long day indeed.


	9. Chapter 9

The next location marked in the map for us was the Gulag. Thankfully it was just a few minutes away from the oilrigs.

"The next location is a castle, Long history. Inside were the prisoners the government didn't want but couldn't kill. Prisoner Six-two-seven is the piece of meat Makarov wants, so let's cut him loose." said MacTavish as we approached the location. When we arrived, the choppers positioned themselves so that the snipers could clear out the towers, cleaning the place for us to land.

"Shepherd get those fighters to cease fire immediately! That was too close!" MacTavish's shout rang in my ears and I turned my head and got a glimpse of their chopper regaining balance after a falcon flew near it.

"I'll try to buy you some time. One man in a Gulag doesn't mean much to the Navy at this point." Shepherd responded.

"Bloody Yanks…I thought they were the good guys!" Ghost commented.

"Ghost cut the chatter. Stay frosty!" MacTavish barked and I formed a slight smile as I moved my eyes to him, watching how he shook his head in response of MacTavish's scold.

"Alright lads! Let's go!" The captain commanded through the radio and we jumped down the chopper to sprint towards the rallying point.

"Two-one is in position to gun run." announced the chopper's pilot. I positioned myself behind MacTavish. He turned his head to briefly look at me before returning his gaze towards the ultranationalists in front of us. "Copy Two-one, lasing target on the second floor." He said before pointing his weapon towards them.

"Two-One copies, got a tally on six tangos, inbound hot." The chopper positioned in front of the tangos and opened fire, clearing the area for us. The place went incredibly quiet afterwards, it was bone-chilling.

"This is it! We go in, grab prisoner 627, and get out!" MacTavish commanded as we lowered the stairs to a the sub-terrain prison. I suppose this were the dungeons Ghost told me about.

"That's the control room up ahead! I can use it to find the prisoner!" Ghost said as we approached the first stop. We cleared the control room of the lone ultranationalists holding position there and advanced to claim the territory.

"I'll tap into their system and look for the prisoner, but it's gonna take some time." he said as he fetched for a chair and readied the laptop to tap into their system. The control room was occupying the center of the prison, the rest of the prison cells surrounding it in a circle from below.

"Copy that! Roach, we're on cell duty! Wildfire, on me. Let's go!" MacTavish ordered to the rest of the team. The other team members walked past me as Ghost rested his eyes in me. The look he was giving me was almost calling, making me feel compelled to walk towards him.

"Be careful would ya?" he softly requested.

"Wildfire, let's go!" I heard MacTavish's bark coming from the stairs that led to the prison cells, making me look towards his direction. I returned my gaze to Ghost and gave him one firm nod in response before heading to the stairs. We advanced and cleared the first half of the first level prison cells, but the prisoner we wanted was nowhere to be found, at least not in that level.

"Alright, I'm patched in. I'm tracking your progress on the security cameras." Ghost's voice appeared in my earphone.

"Copy that! Do you have the location of prisoner 627?" asked MacTavish as he pressed the bottom of the communicator on his neck, taking cover beside one of the cells.

"Negative, but I've got a search light tracking hostiles on your floor. That should make your job easier." he responded.

We pushed forward to the next half of the prison. Bullets were flying to every direction, but things felt more under control now than other times. I preferred being in this confined space thousand times more than outside in the open, at least they could come from one direction only, no matter how many they were.

We encountered a double cell's door that led to the second half of the prison and since both of them were closed, it prevented us to cross to the other side, giving the ultranationalists an opportunity to throw everything they had at us.

"Ghost, we've hit a security door. Get it open!" MacTavish scowled, taking cover and shooting at the ultranationalists he could.

"Roger that. I'm workin' on it. This hardware is fucking ancient!" he growled and loud buzzer rang among the cells, a red light changed into blue and a door opened, but it was just one of the doors, and it was the last of the two.

"Ghost, you opened the wrong door!" MacTavish barked and I formed a half mocking smile on my lips while feeling the recoil of my shootings.

"Roger, stand by…Got it!" another buzzer rang and the cell door slid open, allowing us to proceed. I moved my scout from cell to cell as the others cleaned the area of ultranationalist, but all of them were empty. I lowered my weapon and looked back to MacTavish when we reached the last cell of that level.

"Talk to me Ghost…these cells are deserted." MacTavish said as he stared into my eyes.

"Got it! Prisoner 627's been transferred to the east wing! Head through the armory in the center-that's the fastest way there!" he announced and my eyes instantly moved to the armory located at the center of the cells, just below the control room.

"Roger that." MacTavish confirmed as he looked towards its direction. He beckoned us to follow him and we lowered the stairs to the armory. The armory was THE armory. I think a tear may have slipped when I saw the immense amount of guns, shields, snipers... every weapon I could imagine or want was stored in there. And best of all? It was all in our possession.

"See anything you like?" MacTavish teasingly said to me with a half smile. I guess my face looked like if I had found candy land.

"Oh, bollocks!" Ghost said, making me snap out of my admiration.

"What is it?" I asked before moving my head to look around, immediately witnessing the reason behind his curse. Ultranationalists were positioning themselves all around us, completely surrounding the armory.

"Bad News mate. I'm tracking three, no, four hostile squads converging on your position!" he warned.

"I can hear them." was MacTavish's reply.

"Get down!" I screamed at MacTavish when I saw a ultranationalist was pointing his AK at him. I grabbed him and turned around, receiving the bullet impact in my bulletproof vest, pushing our bodies to the ground and managing to get all the air in my lungs out.

"Wildfire are you alright?!" The Captain stuttered when he remembered how to put coherent sentences. I growled as I struggled to get on my hands, hearing the bullets fly above us. I leaned against the siding of the metal rail to regain my breath. "I'm alright" I barely get out as I still tried to recover from the hit. The bulletproof vest served its purpose, but it sure hurt like hell.

"Grab a shield to take cover!" MacTavish ordered as he reached for one of the shields in the center and covered us both with one, the other team members covering themselves with one while shooting.

"We need to get out of here" I said, finally recomposing from the pain.

"Ghost, Open the door!" he ordered as I grabbed my weapon to reload it.

"Bloody hell, they've locked it from the hard line. I'll have to run a bypass." said Ghost.

"Ghost hurry up, please!" I pleaded as I turned around with difficulty and began to shoot every hostile I could see, partially taking cover between shots.

"Almost there! Routing through the auxiliary circuit…there!" Ghost announced and the door beside us slid open. I grabbed one of the shields and stood up to push forward to the prison cells, receiving heavy fire shots against it.

"Go! Go! Go!" I heard MacTavish say behind me. I ran with all the strength I could and knocked one hostile over. The number of ultranationalists seemed to have multiplied by a hundred. We pushed our way to the end of the cells, but more hostiles were coming from behind us.

"I recommend you to bypass the lower floors by rappelling out that window!"

"Copy that!" MacTavish replied as he took cover to reload his weapon. The shooting was endless and time was running, that only left us with one option. A option I knew only I could handle.

"Captain, go find 627. We can't get stranded in here, go. I'll cover you" I said to him while shooting at the popping ultranationalists. I sensed his stare in me, but no response was coming from him.

"Captain, Go! you're wasting time!" I growled while briefly looking at him before resuming my shooting. He nodded before heading towards the window to strap himself in the rope and I shot all the ultranationalist that dared to aim at him.

"Ghost, Wildfire is staying behind to cover us. Help her if you can" he said as he rappelled down.

"No. Ghost you find prisoner 627. I can handle them" I commanded as I pushed my way back to the control room. After a few minutes I was finally reaching the control room, hunting the last hostiles that were running away from me. I slid to one of the cells to reload my weapon, but found no more mags in my pockets. I then fetched for my gun and found out it was empty too.

"Fuck" I swore as my eyes trailed back to the exit of the cell and hid beside the door. When I saw the AK-47 poking inside the cell, I grabbed it and kicked the man out, making him release his weapon. I was just aiming it up at him when another ultranationalist pushed me towards the floor, making me lose the AK. I immediately kicked him away and managed to get him throw his weapon too.

I looked at him, then at the ultranationalist laying on the ground as they exchanged glances before moving their eyes back to me. I quickly stood up as the man in front of me took his knife out and sprinted towards me, letting out a battle cry. I stopped the knife that was aiming at my neck with my arm and hit his ribs with my free hand, making him release his knife.

I immediately grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground over my shoulder. I ducked down when I saw a fist coming my way, briefly noticing it belonged to the other ultranationalist, then stopped the hand containing a gun and kicked him into the cell; the gun bouncing in the cement before I kicked it away from anyone's reach.

My body fell back when the other ultranationalist threw himself on me, immediately seeing a white gleam storming towards my head. I moved my head to dodge the knife and then grabbed his arm and hit his face with my elbow, causing him to fall beside me. Then I smashed my fist in his face before the other man pulled me from my leg, making me let out a shout of desperation as he dragged me further. He commanded something to the other man and he immediately grabbed the knife and aimed for my torso.

I rolled over my leg to kick the man away against the rail, making him knock himself out against it, then kicked the arm of the one holding my leg to then kick him away from me, making him fall towards the ground. His hand sought for the forgotten AK and was quick to get on his feet. I crawled backwards as I helplessly watched him aim at me, but then a bullet went through his head, painting the wall beside him with his blood and his lifeless body fell to the ground. I just sat there with completely shocked, still feeling my heart hammering in my throat.

I looked towards the control room and noticed Ghost aiming at my direction, his weapon still smoking out from the shot. All went silent, just fire shots were heard in the far distance. I stood up and ran the remaining steps to reach there.

"Thank you" I said breathlessly before colliding into him. My arms and my hands quivered uncontrollably with adrenaline. Half a second passed before I felt his hand in my back.

"I'm glad I was just in time" he muttered in relief as I parted away from him. Before I could say anything the place quaked strongly under my feet and the walls above us began to break. I stumbled onto the ground, making me land harshly on top of several objects that had fallen in the shake, re-opening the wound in my leg. I let out a sharp groan as I tried to stand up again.

"Bravo-six, be advised. The navy started the bombing earlier. Get the hell outta there now!" I heard Shepherd's voice in the background.

Ghost's strong arms appeared in below my arms, helping me get on my feet again. "come on!" Shouted, beckoning me to run towards the exit and we sprinted through the hall to climb up the stairs again and get out of the building. "Come on, we're almost there!"

The entrance collapsed behind us as we ran towards the chopper that waited for us near the entrance. I let out a groan once more from the pain in my leg, stumbling into the ground. Ghost passed a hand behind my knees and lifted my body to sprint towards the chopper, placing me carefully inside it to then immediately jump in with me. The chopper lifted as the copilot threw some bandages at Ghost. He effortlessly ripped my pants where he remembered the wound was before and confirmed the stitches had loosened up. He then placed the gauze on top of the injury and wrapped it with the bandage.

"Ghost, Ghost where are the others? Did they manage to get six to seven? Did they manage to get out?" I asked with worry. He just shook his head, but before he could say anything a red flare appeared into our line of sight.

"We see you!" announced the pilot of the other chopper. A rope rolled down the chopper as it hanged on top of where the flare had fired up.

"Hang on!" the pilot of that chopper commanded as he maneuvered a way out, revealing the one's who had strapped themselves to it. To my heart's relief, MacTavish, Roach, and other soldier of the one four one where strapped to it, and there was also another soldier, but...I couldn't recognize the last one.

"Price?" Ghost said in disbelief.

"Price? Isn't he supposed to be dead?" I asked as I moved my confused gaze to meet his amused stare.

"He was..." he stuttered. "Was he a prisoner of this place this hole time?" he continued as he returned his eyes to them.


	10. Chapter 10

The lieutenant made sure I didn't pass out from the bleeding. He established a nice talk with me to keep me awake. I learned that his true name was Simon... Simon Riley. I also revealed him my full name, also revealing him my Latin American origins.

I remember I closed my eyes for a brief second to rest my burning and tired sight, but only managed to make him scold me for closing them, to which I replied by letting out a gentle chuckle.

As soon as we landed, he took me to the Infirmary. I protested all the way saying that he should catch up with MacTavish and Price and let someone else take care of me, but all I received was a silent reply and a stubborn look.

As for the wound, I couldn't complain, the stitches did held longer than I expected, they held well during the fight so I couldn't really ask for more. The nurse was as talkative as ever. She asked a river of questions to Ghost, to which he coldly replied with a yes or no.

The nurse had to bracket the injury and warned me to be more careful. The nurse then called for someone to take me back to the barracks, but Ghost surprised both of us when he said it wouldn't be necessary and carried me out of the infirmary instead.

"You know you didn't have to do this..."I trailed out.

"I know" he replied as he walked towards the barracks, readjusting me in his arms. I let out a defeated sigh before moving my eyes to the path. The place was pretty empty, I guess everybody was being deployed these days.

"I wonder where is everyone.." I commented as in manner to end the awkward silence.

"At war. Did you expect it of be filled with soldiers and happiness after so long? If they're not being deployed then they are already stuck underground" was his harsh reply. I absently stared at my leg. He was right, it was naive of me to think after all this time things would be the same.

"Sorry..." he softly rectified. "Don't listen to me. I'm just...tired" he said before letting out a heavy sigh. "Tired of this" he continued.

My eyes were stuck in his face as he stared at the path. He never ceased to amaze me. He had slowly showed me this parts of him... parts that showed that behind all that tough look, he was just a man.

His blue eyes moved back to me and my heart skipped a beat when he held his stare. "open the door" he tenderly ordered and I turned my head to my right, noticing we where standing just in front of our room. I moved my hand to open the door and he walked inside, closing the door behind him with a kick before placing me on top of the desk. I waited for him to move away, but he didn't. His covered lips a few centimeters away from mine while my heart beat wildly inside my chest.

I hesitantly moved my hands to roll up his mask, the gauze falling from his face when I removed it completely. He had his hands supported on each side of the desk as he leaned closer to me and I cupped the back of his neck with my hand when our lips met for the first time. Everything about him felt great, his warm lips moving against mine's, his scent...

My heart pounded loudly in my neck as his lips moved against mine, his fingers slowly sliding to my thigh.

"We can't" I said breathless when I tore my mouth away from his, his blue eyes clenched in mine's as I slowly backed away. "Why not?" he asked.

"Because...isn't it forbidden or something?"

He formed a smile on his lips "If you were a Private or someone with a lower rank it would, but since you and I are from higher ranks we c-"

I didn't let him finish and just collided our lips anew. I felt how he tugged his lips up in a smile as he held my thighs carefully to lift me up, my arms tangling around his neck. His touch burned my skin as I let our lips flow together and he slowly began to lean me to bed. His hands began to travel bellow my shirt through my skin when someone knocked at the door, making my body freeze instantly and clenching my eyes in Ghost.

"Ghost, are you in there mate?" MacTavish asked from the other side. I could see in his eyes he did not want to answer. He was looking at me with those eyes. He had no idea he could easily undress me with them. I sensed he was waiting for me to say something, anything to lean back in and Ignore MacTavish, but I was sure the matter had to do with Price.

"Go" I whispered. He let out a heavy sigh before standing up and opening the door just enough for his face to fit.

"what?" he asked, and he didn't even try to hide his annoyance.

"Come to my office, price is waiting for us there." I heard him say before watching how his head leaned to the left a little bit. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked with a half smile when he saw me. So I just waved at him in return as Ghost moved his head to cover the gap that allowed MacTavish to see me as he closed the door even more.

"I'll be there, give me five" he said before closing the door on his face as I stood up from bed and walked towards him, his blue eyes met mine again before I pressed our lips together. His hands landed on the lower part of my back and pressed me harder against him.

"I'll be here when you come back" I let out, breathless. he sealed our lips again before turning around and leaving, not without glancing back at me before he did. I chuckled with a smile on my face before trowing myself back to bed.

* * *

"Time to do some push-ups" The air outside was filled with the noise of soldiers working out, doing drilling sessions and jogging. My military necklace hit my face every time I did a push-up as my face ran down my face towards the ground.

"Hi" said a man as he approached me. I glanced at his uniform and noticed he was a captain from another division. I stood up and saluted him, and he let out a gentle chuckle. "There is no need for that, Lt" he said as he took my hand into his and shook it "this will do" he said with a soft smile.

"In what can I help you, captain...?" I said, expecting him to reveal me his name.

"Cage" he said as he released my hand. "Oh nothing, I was just walking through and saw you were doing handstand push-ups. That's some real heavy lifting right there" He said as he grinned at me. The way he talked revealed me he was american.

"Yeah well, a girl has to entertain herself somehow" I replied with a smile, he responded with a light chuckle. "You belong with the delta team right?" he asked.

"That's correct" I replied.

He formed a grin on his face "Beautiful and Talented. What else can a man ask for? I'm sure you have plenty of ways to entertain yourself in there" he said, my smile wiping out a little bit. "well, nice meeting you miss..?"

"Wildfire" I said, remembering that was the name I was supposed to reveal. He grabbed my hand and leaned to kiss it before walking away with a smile on his face. I raised a brow in confusion and slightly shook my head before leaning to continue.

"Oi" I heard a voice from behind me. I straightened up and turned around to see it was Ghost. "Follow me" he said before turning around and walking towards the meeting quarters. He didn't even wait for me, which made me knit my eyebrows in confusion. I ran to catch up with him and looked up to his face. He briefly looked at me before returning his eyes to the path. 'Probably is just for the sake of appearances...' I thought.

He opened the door of the debrief room and ordered me to get inside. "What is this?" I asked as he closed the door, my eyes exploring the images of a destroyed city, followed by the blueprints of a submarine.

"This is what we've managed to save"

I slowly advanced towards the images. "How the hell are things going to get back to normal after this" I whispered in disbelief. How can the world recover from something like this? After so much destruction...

"As for the other image, the Ultranationalists are going to launch missiles from this submarine to the American territory and we have to prevent that by all means necessary. Price supplied us with the information, so he'll be the one leading us this mission" he said as he crossed his arms and leaned against the meeting table while looking at me.

"and MacTavish?" I asked.

"Wont be joining us. He'll be coordinating the air support for us" he answered.

"Alright…" I replied, carefully examining his behavior towards me. "Is there anything else you want to tell me?"

He removed his lenses as he dipped his head to then lift his eyes to me. "What were you and Capt. Cage talking about?" he quietly asked.

"Oh, nothing. He just...wait a minute... are you jealous?" I asked unable to form a teasing smile in my face.

"No" he answered with a dead serious voice, but I couldn't help but chuckle in response. Perhaps it was just me fantasizing with the idea, but sure was funny enough to make me laugh.

"I cannot believe this. You are jealous aren't you? Lieutenant?" I teased with the widest smile on my face. Who would imagine him jealous? The most fearsome soldier of the whole regiment.

He huffed before putting on his sunglasses again and shaking his head. My smile immediately vanished when I saw the look he had in his eyes.

"Sorry I didn't mean to-" I trailed quickly, but wan unable to continue when I saw him getting closer to me. He pulled his balaclava down, revealing his mouth to me.

"I would advice you not to tease me, Lieutenant" he said, coming closer with each step.

His face was just centimeters away from mine now, but he just hovered there, intoxicating me with his inviting sweet breath, but everytime I strained my neck to try to make our lips meet, he moved away, forming a wild mischievous smirk in his lips.

"You see, I too can play that game"

Before I could say anything, his lips were already on mine's. His hands slid to my back as I tangled my fingers in his hair. I felt the heat starting to grow in the room, but before we could do anything else, a door shut in the compound, making us both look towards the door.

We looked at each other again. We stared for more than one minute before he finally placed his balaclava back into its rightful place, letting out a deep sigh.

"Lets go" he said as he walked towards the door, opening it for me.


	11. Chapter 11

Is everyone alright?" Mactavish's voice called in my earphone when we landed on the cold snow.

"Roget that. I'm a few meters away from Ghost. How far did we land from objective?" I asked as I observed my surroundings. We landed near a forest and everything was covered in a thick and white snow.

"Pretty far to the east, Wildfire. Roach and Price are closer to objective, they'll proceed. Try to catch up with them ASAP, over"

"Copy that, Wildfire out"

I walked towards Ghost, fighting with the thick snow beneath my feet and leaving the trace of my struggle behind me.

"Ghost, we landed pretty far to the east. We're going to have to hasten our pace if we want to reach the objective in time" I said, my breath transforming into steam against the cold air.

"Bloody weather" He cursed as he took off his parachute and walked towards me with difficulty. "What about Roach and Price?"

"They are closer to objective, so they'll proceeded with the mission" I replied, heading now towards the forest.

"MacTavish, the other team members. Where are they?" Ghost asked as soon as he connected his unplugged headphones.

"They landed near your position. If you hurry you may catch up with them, over."

"Come on" he said to me as he fastened his pace. "We don't want to be late for the party."

When we got deeper into the forest, we found the other three parachutes belonging to the rest of the team laying on the snow.

"We're close" I cautioned as I prepared my weapon. "Watch out for hostiles. Few patrols out there probably."

"Copy that" he replied.

We found a few corpses on the way to the rallying point. The other team members sure passed through here already. "Patrol dead ahead" Ghost warned quietly and I quickly crouched beside him taking cover behind a tree.

"Let them pass or take them out, your call" he commanded as his eyes sought for mine for an answer. I slid my hand through his leg. "Don't get too excited." I grinned when I noticed the way he looked at me. I took out his gun along with mine's. I got out of cover and fired exactly six times, placing a bullet in all their heads.

"Clear" I said as I turned around and slid his gun back to his gun case. I grinned at the expression on his face before turning around "lets go" I ordered. Steam escaped my mouth as I trailed my scope from side to side, making sure no one was seeing us.

"Dog patrol" Ghost notified and made me crouch behind a bush. The dog was sniffing its way to us at an alarming speed. Ghost and I exchanged glances before nodding and standing up to shoot at the patrol. The dog threw himself over Ghost and I shot at it before shooting at the last ultranationalist standing. I gave him my hand to help him stand and then continued leading the way through the tree line. We encountered a few more tangos on the way, but we took them out with no trouble or alert. We were just arriving the rallying point when we felt a huge bang coming from that direction, making the ground shake beneath us.

"What just happened?" I asked through intercom, but received no response. "MacTavish, Talk to me"

"They destroyed our predator. I'm trying to get us another one, over"

We ran a few meters more to finally arrive the rallying point. A little valley completely covered in snow. We saw Roach and Captain Price just sliding down a small mountain covered with snow and landing effortlessly near the houses.

"Check your fire! Friendlies coming in at your 12'!" Ghost warned as we made our way to the houses.

"and from behind us as well." I announced when I noticed the other soldiers joining us as well.

"Did someone call for Backup?" one of them said.

"You've arrived just in time" I replied with a half smile

"Alright. Get your weapon's ready. We're going to have a heavy fire" Ghost warned to the rest of the team.

I stood up and ran towards Roach and Price at the other side of the covered street.

"Movement up ahead! Keep your eyes on targets!" I shouted while pointing at the hostiles as I ran to take cover behind the house Price and Roach were at. The snow had the houses almost completely covered, and most of the enemies were taking cover at the rooftops.

"It's show time you fucking shites" I grabbed a secondary gun and placed an extra ammo in the gun's case in my leg and got out off cover to shoot at all the hostiles I could see. I was just finishing them off when another unit of ultranationalists exited a house in the distance. I took a grenade and removed the trigger with my teeth before throwing it towards the unit, then reloaded my gun and began to randomly shoot at them to prevent them from moving in any direction until the grenade exploded.

"Clear" I notified as I threw both empty guns to the snow and grabbed my weapon instead. The place was dead silent now, only the wind could be heard.

"Wow... MacTavish- I didn't believe it when you told me" Price stuttered through the mic as he examined the surroundings.

"What are you talking about?" The captain asked.

"We linked up with Ghost, the girl and the rest of the team"

"Roget that. I told you she was somethin'" he replied and a inevitable smile formed in the corner of my lips. "Predator is almost in position. Please make it count, these things don't grow on trees, over" MacTavish warned, almost tagging Roach's name on it, and I chuckled as his attempt to being 'subtle' about it.

"There's the submarine! Right below that crane!" Price shouted as the top of the submarine came into view.

"You better hurry. You've got only a couple minutes before that submarine dives" MacTavish warned.

Roach took control of the predator and destroyed a BTR near our location. It was impressive watching the missile fall from the sky to impact on it.

"Good effect on target, BTR destroyed." MacTavish praised.

We were quick to sprint towards the submarine while shooting at the ultranationalist that popped at us, this time moving through the targets was much more easing now that we had that predator on our side, clearing he way for us.

"You are halfway there!" MacTavish notified.

"I'm going for the sub! Cover me from that guardhouse over there!" Price informed as he headed towards the submarine, commanding us to defend the territory.

Ghost and I covered him from a container's area near the submarine while the rest of the team headed for the guardhouse. The ultranationalists were starting to come out from all directions like a plague. "Alright, I'm inside the sub! Cover me, I need a few minutes!" Price said.

I shot at every hostile my eyes met, taking cover behind one big red container. I briefly glanced at Ghost who was finishing up on his side, but an ultranationalist was approaching him from behind. I shot at the last two hostiles on my side and sprinted towards him while pointing my weapon to the ultranationalist, but when a pressed the trigger I was out. I threw the weapon to the ground and grabbed the ultranationalist hands just when he was about to fire his gun to Ghost's head, making him shoot towards the sky. I then kicked his crotch and rolled him over my shoulders to throw him onto the ground, grabbing his gun and shooting him in the head.

My eyes met Ghost's, his gun still smoking from killing the dead ultranationalist in front of him. "For fucks sake, Ghost!" I yelled at him. "You need to be more careful! you can't just..." The knot in my throat didn't let me finish and I just wrapped my arms around him. "Sorry" he let out as a whisper while his arms surrounded me.

I could still hear slow and intermittent gunfire coming from the guardhouse, when suddenly the silo doors of the submarine began to open and the loud rumble made the ground quake under our feet. I moved my head towards the sub while frowning in confusion.

"Price, are you there? The silo doors are opening on the sub, I repeat, the silo doors are opening on the sub" Ghost notified, his arms immediately leaving my body.

"Price!" I called through the mic as I turned my whole body to that direction. "Price, Come in! What's going on?"

"Price, do you copy? The silo doors are open, I repeat, the silo doors are open!" Ghost was now yelling.

"Good" Price responded and the submarine burst into flames as the rocket flew into the air.

"Price no!" Ghost screamed. "Missile in the air! Code Black! Code Black!"

I watched how the rocket found his way to the sky, shock striking my face. Then I saw Price coming out of the sub, my heart started to beat wildly in rage. I felt how it began to invade every muscle and setting my body on a raging fire, making me walk furiously towards him, readying the gun in my hand.

"I know- I know-" He started, but I pushed him to the ground and pointed my gun to his face.

"You better start talking now, Price. What. the hell. happened?"

"Wildfire, hold your fire!" MacTavish screamed through the radio.

"MacTavish?...What the hell is this!?" I questioned, still pointing the gun at price as he lifted both of his hands in surrender.

"I know how this looks like, but Price just saved every American! He did send the rocket, but it wont act as a nuke because it will blow up in space over America, only the EMP will affect the city, disabling every support the Russians have over there!"

I stood there, still processing his words. I stared into Price's eyes, searching for the minimal sign falseness, but I didn't find any. I began to lower my weapon and Price lowered his hands in response. He stood up again, still hesitant if I would do something, and he was right. I smashed my fist into his face, making him fall into the ground again.

"Learn to communicate, Fucker!" I groaned. He immediately stood up and went for after me, but Roach grabbed him from behind and Ghost did the same with me, separating us.

"Get the fuck off me!" Price barked, releasing himself from Roach's arms. He threw a poisonous glare at me before heading towards the chopper that had landed to extract us. Ghost also released me but I didn't move, my eyes still tracked Price movements until he was inside the chopper, then the whole team turned around and left for the chopper as well.

"Let's go" said Ghost as he placed a hand on my back, leading me towards the Exfil.


	12. Chapter 12

The return flight was pretty quiet but the atmosphere was tense enough to make the whole way back feel like we were still in battle. Price and I glared at each other most of the flight and Ghost would always give me a 'disapproval' stare every time he caught me glaring at Price. When we arrived, I let out the air I had retained in my lungs and everybody stood up to pick up their things and leave, including myself. MacTavish approached us from the distance and I watched as he held back Price, commanding him to follow him as he walked towards me.

Oh no…

"I need a word with both of you. Ghost, would you give us a moment?"

He nodded and took my bag off my hand and walked towards the base.

"Follow me, please" he ordered as he walked us towards a more private area.

"What's going on Soap?" Price asked when we arrived a small meeting room.

"I'll tell you what's going on" he began, as he supported himself against the table with both hands looking at both of us. "You two are going on! You bloody **dickheads**!"

"MacTavish what do you want me to say? You know very well that what happened back there wasn't my fault." I stood up for myself as I locked my eyes in his.

"Don't throw that rubbish at me." he said as he walked towards me, his eyes clenched in me "You were the one who went after him. We don't do that shite here. I'm not going to say he didn't deserve it, but fix your problems **here** , **not** out there!"

I was about to protest, but I swallowed my words and remained silent.

"And you!" he turned to Price. "She's not your enemy, Price! She's your goddamn teammate and part of this team, so you better start loosing your tongue old man"

"She pointed her gun at me, soap!" He complained.

"You didn't tell her about your plan, dickhead! Of course she thought you were traitor!"

The room went silent.

"You two need to settle things down between yourselves" he pointed at both of us. "You can't take those differences to any mission, except-" he continued as he handled us two folders. "The one I'm sending you in."

"What is this?" I asked him as I read the files.

"Your couple's therapy. I'm sending you two in a reconnaissance. You just have to retrieve some Intel"

"What?" Price said as he scanned the folder in his hand. "You want me to go with her? Alone?" He snorted. "You can't do that" he continued as he threw the folder on the table.

"Actually" he said handling him another document. "This orders come from up above. You two were **chosen** for this mission by Shepherd himself. We **really** want that Intel back and who better to retrieve it than both of you? The best of the best." He smirked in victory.

"And when would we be leaving?" I asked him.

"Tomorrow early, so rest up as much as you can and have a good look at that" he replied as he pointed at the folder in my hands "That's your homework for today. Dismissed"

I gave him one nod and left the room. Price remained in the room, trying to convince him out of it. There was nothing I could do anyways. Complain? Not here. This is not high school. In here you do as commanded, even if that meant having that cocksucker as my companion for this mission.

I got into my room only to find it empty, but Ghost had left evidence he passed through. I took off my necklace and took the other two pills prescribed for today, then left it on top of the desk to head to the bathroom to have a long and hot shower, hoping all the stress would wash away.

I felt the main door closed, making me move my head to its direction as water splashed against my skin. I looked at my watch and saw it had passed at least an hour, it was time to get out.

I slid the door and dried myself to change to the fresh uniform and put on a black tank top. I placed my hand on my chest, expecting to feel my necklace but I didn't. My eyes widened when I remembered I had left it outside and immediately opened the door. My heart stopped when I saw Ghost was holding it, he slid open the compartment with one finger and saw the pills inside.

"What is this?" he asked quietly, his eyes still fixed on the pills.

"It's nothing. It's jus-"

"what is this?" he harshly asked again, lifting his eyes to me. I let out a sigh before walking over him. "This are my daily pills to avoid sensory withdrawal. It's a ...very painful process which usually ends up in death"

I held the necklace in my hand and leaned against the desk. "The red ones are the physical side. It is nothing more than one half percent of raising in the mitochondrial protein outtake, but with that you can see an immediate increase in cellular tempo, muscle efficiency, oxygenation..." I turned the necklace around and opened the other side. "The purple ones is the 'intelligence', but it is more than that. Neuroregeneration and elasticity, enhanced sensory function, pain suppression..."

"and why do you have to take them? I thought the change was permanent..." he said quietly, his eyes waiting for my answer.

"My body took it in for quite a lot longer, but it wasn't permanent as we thought. To make it permanent we have to make it viral" I let out a sigh as I slid close the compartment and placed the necklace around my neck. "Let's say you want to change the human body. You want to fix a mistake, you want to repair something or improve something. But if you are going to be reprogramming the human genetic material, you need a delivery system and nothing works better than a virus. It works like a suitcase and it implants to your system like nothing else can. Getting it where you want it and how you want it... is the real problem. Wheathley still working on that"

"and what are the doses?" he asked as he cupped the necklace in his hand.

"one of each, every three days"

"and if you don't?"

"Then the ugly part starts. Everything that is enhanced will start to decrease drastically, everything will start to fail" I formed tight smile before dropping my eyes to the ground. He stood still for a moment before coming closer to me and wrapped his arms around me while plating a kiss on my front head. "don't you ever hide anything from me again" he whispered. "I would do anything for you"

I smiled as I rested my head on his chest. The day went smoothly after that. Ghost helped me evaluate the place, see advantage and disadvantage points. He told me where I would be able to have a better look inside and how much meters away I needed to be to not raise any alarm. The night came quickly, but the pre-planning wasn't over yet. Ghost went for a few snacks and coffee to keep going until there was nothing else to check. He told me how explain it to price in the easiest and fastest way possible, so technically I would be able to explain it to him on the way there.

When we finally went to sleep it was already three in the morning. I felt terribly tired but I couldn't conceive sleep thanks to my nerves. It was the first time I was going alone on a mission, well...not completely alone, but sure it was going to feel like I was. I kept rolling on the bed, trying to conceive sleep but nothing...

"can't sleep?" Ghost suddenly asked, ending the silence that was eating me alive. "No..." I answered. I heard he stood up from his bed and walked over my side. "move" he ordered and I gave him space to get inside. I wrapped my arm above his chest, resting my head below his chin.

"Everything's gonna be alright" he said after letting out a sigh of tiredness. I also let out a sigh, feeling more relaxed now and I closed my eyes, forgetting about everything.

* * *

Price and MacTavish packed up the weapons we were going to use for the mission inside the chopper, all of them with their respective suppressors. Ghost stood right in front of me and planted a quick kiss on my forehead after I let out a huge exhalation, quickly transforming into steam against the cold air. I removed my necklace and gave it to him. "Hold on to this well" I said as he held it in his hand. "I can't afford to lose it" I continued.

"You know you must come back, right?" he said.

I smiled, and slowly so did he. Then he placed the necklace around his neck.

"Be careful" He said, and I nodded once before turning around to head towards the chopper. "Always in" I replied as a whisper while I climbed inside. MacTavish approached me on his way out and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Good luck" he said as he held his ice blue eyes in me. "And Nightfire...be patient with him" he added.

"Alright..." I answered with a sigh. "Wish us luck, Captain"

"Good luck" he said, then he gave me a soft smile before jumping off.

The chopper lifted up from the ground and I waved at MacTavish and Ghost from the window, seeing them waving back at me with a tight smile. I then let out a sigh and sat down. "Let's just finish this quickly so we can return as fast as possible" I said, grabbing the suppressed intervention rifle that was placed beside my seat.

"We're going to finish this alright" he approached me "but by my rules. You do as I command, understood?" he harshly ordered as he glared into my eyes.

Just play along... There's no point on getting mad. you're both stranded in this.

"Yes, sir"


	13. Chapter 13

"How are things looking down there?" Price asked through radio as I watched the house through the binoculars and saw few men patrolling it. They were five in total: Two talking outside, two watching TV on the inside, and one sleeping outside on a rocking chair.

"Pretty quiet. Just a few men guarding it. Should be easy to extract what we need without being compromised" I replied.

"Roger that. Join me at rallying point, over"

"Roger, moving towards rallying point" I stood up and ran silently through the forest while steam escaped my mouth as I panted for air. Breathing the cold air of Russia wasn't an easy task and even though there wasn't snow anymore, it was still cold enough to freeze anyone's lungs.

"Hurry up kid" Price spat as I approached him. "I want to end this fast"

We trotted downhill as the day began to darken, taking cover behind the trees and bushes. "Stick to the shadows" he said "I don't want any surprises"

"Roger that"

We positioned ourselves behind the tree line surrounding the house and aimed towards the two hostiles outside.

"I'll take the one on the left, you take the one on the right, on three" he commanded. I lifted my weapon and aimed at the man, waiting for price's call.

"One, two…three!" we took the shot at the same time and both of them dropped dead. I lifted my sight to the man sleeping on the rocking chair, he didn't even notice. We were truly masters of stealth. If it wasn't for Price's stubbornness we sure would make a good team.

"Beautiful. Let's advance."

We sprinted towards the house and crouched beside it. "That one is mine" I said quietly as I stealthily approached the sleeping ultranationalist. I crouched in front of him as I took my knife out, then covered his mouth to slice his throat and a few drops of his blood sprayed over my face when I did.

"Nicely done" Price acknowledged as I returned to his position.

"Let's finish here price" I said as I stood up, taking cover beside the window. "On your go"

He nodded. "Ready?" he asked.

"When am I not?" I replied.

"Go!"

We shot through the window glass and killed the two hostiles inside.

"Clear" he said "let's get that Intel an-" Suddenly a ultranationalist exited the bathroom and as soon as he saw us, he locked himself inside and began to radio chat his friends.

"Take him out!" Price shouted. I broke the window glass completely with the back of my weapon and jumped inside to shoot through the bathroom's door. We heard his lifeless body fell to the floor, followed by blood coming out from below the door and I turned my head to Price to stare at each other eyes.

"Now what?" I asked. "They'll be here at any minute"

"We take this bloody thing" he began, grabbing the hard drive that was on top of a table. "And get the hell outta here"

"Wow, gee why didn't I think of that?" The sarcasm in my voice couldn't be less obvious as I snapped the hard drive out of his hands. "Let's just hope there aren't too many of them"

* * *

"Price cover me!" I shouted as I ran towards a tree to take cover behind the rock he was in.

"Well, getting deeper into the forest didn't help as I thought it would" he said when I positioned myself beside him.

"No kidding" I said and turned around to shoot at the hostiles. "We need to come up with another plan. I'm running out of bullets"

"We could jump down this cliff" he said and I turned around to see what he was talking about. "land in that lake"

"They will continue the chase and we will die from hypothermia" I refuted. "not happening" I turned around and kept shooting. "Besides" I continued as I looked down the cliff once more. "It looks more like a pond than a lake" I resumed the shooting.

"There is another way, Price. And you know it" I said as I threw a grenade towards the hostiles to give us a chance to talk properly. "If they capture us both, the Intel is lost and no-one will rescue us. They don't know where we are, my radio is damaged and so is yours." I sighed as I redirected my gaze towards the ultranationalists that were coming for us in the distance. I turned to price and gave him the Intel. "Take this to MacTavish"

"No" he shook his head as if not wanting to hear more.

"Listen to me, Price" I placed my hand on his cheek, forcing his eyes to meet me. "Take this to MacTavish, tell him things got complicated" I sighed as my hand left his face and gazed back at the hostiles who were quickly approaching us. "They're going to take me" I slightly shook my head. "I would like to say it won't happen, but it will. I'll try to pinpoint you my location if I break free"

"No! I'm not leaving you to them! You know what they're going to do to you, Angelica. You don't have to prove anything to me..."

"I'm not trying to prove anything, Price" I gazed into his eyes, a poor smile forming in my face. "I'm trying to save your life" And with that, I pushed him off the cliff before he could say anything else.

"Nooo!" he yelled as he fell and I turned around to shoot at all the hostiles I could before running out of bullets, immediately fetching for my holster.

"Покажи себя! (show yourself!)" one of the ultranationalists shouted. I turned around and found one ultranationalist peeking out towards my direction, making me raise up my hands in pure reflex. The ultranationalist then came out of cover, commanding two other soldiers to hold me as another one tied my hands.

"Were is the other one?" he asked me in his thick Russian accent.

We glared at each other as seconds passed, but my eyes soon closed when his palm met my face.

"Возьмите ее в дом (Take her to the house)"

The ultranationalist then grabbed my chin, forcing my eyes to met his. "I'm sure our captain will like to talk to this one"

* * *

 **[Price POV]**

"I'm not trying to prove anything, Price" she said as she redirected her gaze to me. "I'm trying to save your life" she continued as she gave me a sadden smile. Next thing I new I was falling off the cliff.

"No!" I screamed, trying to reach her as I fell backwards. The wind took my hat off as I was close to impact, so I gathered my feet together and stiffened my body to impact in the water. I swam up looking for air as my body hardened from the cold. Wildfire was right, it was more of a pond than a lake. I walked hardly against the water towards the dry land and laid on the ground.

"Bollocks" I murmured as my body shivered from cold "I hope you know what you're doing, girl"

* * *

 **[Angelica POV]**

I gasped awake, breathing rapidly while struggling against the ropes on my hands that tied me to a chair, then my eyes scouted my surroundings. I was in a small room that seemed to be a basement, a bright light bulb hanged over me and a small rectangular window revealed me it was already night. I scanned for my stuff inside the room and found them on top of a table by the corner of the room.

The door slammed open and a ultranationalist soldier walked in. "Welcome to the land of the living" he said in his thick Russian accent. "Though it won't be for long"

I threw a poisonous glare at him before planting my eyes in the corner of the room, avoiding his eyes. "Oh please, don't look at me like that! We only want some information, that's all. After we get what me want, well... I'm sure we can think of something for you." he said as he cupped my face with his hand and I moved it to break free from his fingers.

"Go Fuck yourself" I spat and he slapped me in the face in response. I tried my best to show no emotions when he did, not a sign of pain. "You really have some guts if you're willing to—"

Suddenly the door burst open, and another man walked in.

"Что тут происходит? (What's going on here?)"

"I was starting the interrogation, sir. but this bitch sure knows how to start them right" he said as he turned around to glare at me. "Perhaps you didn't start the way you should have" he responded with a grin as he closed the door behind him.

Not even nightmares could compare to this. I lost track of time. Every minute felt like hundred years, and when they took one of my nails out felt like hundred more. They tried everything to make me speak. They cover my face and threw me water until breathing became impossible, not to even mention they were successfully breaking every bone in my face with every strike they made. I don't even want to recall the electric shocks that burnt my skin...

The only thing that keep me alive, the only thing that made me withstand this...was my promise. I promised Simon I would get back.


	14. Chapter 14

**[Price POV]**

I saw Soap and Ghost heading my way when I got out of the chopper, but the smile Soap had painted on his face vanished the second he noticed the girl wasn't with me.

"Where's Wildfire?" he asked while knitting his eyebrows in confusion, Ghost removing his lenses and staring at me with awaiting eyes. Pronouncing the words became extremely hard for me. I couldn't bring myself to pronounce them, to let them out. She sacrificed herself for me, after all I did to her... I know I wouldn't have sacrificed myself for me."I lost her" I finally let out, my voice full of shame.

I saw how Ghost's and Soap's eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean you lost her?! Is she...?" Ghost let out in a desperate voice.

I shook my head in response. "She was captured. Hopefully she's still alive"

"How did it happen?" Soap asked, his eyes waiting for my answer.

"The bloody how doesn't matter now MacTavish, does it? We have to get her back!" Ghost spat before heading towards the chopper.

"And what are you going to do, eh mate? do you know where they're holding her? what if she's still alive and they kill her to because of you?" MacTavish said in a attempt to stuck reason into him, making him stop his march. I'd never seen Ghost like this, so...vulnerable. Only a wazzack would not notice he had a thing for the girl.

"Do you think they'll…"he stopped. His throat didn't let him finish. I know what he meant. I've been thinking the same thing since I got out of there.

"I don't think they're even going to get to lay a finger on her" I said, partially trying to convince myself of it as well. "She will pinpoint her location the minute she breaks free. We need to be ready"

"Okay, let's get started on that. Let me notify the control room about Wildfire " Soap said as he walked towards the control room.

 **[Wildfire POV]**

The sensory withdrawal was becoming evident as hours passed. I needed my pills. If I wanted to escape I had to do it before losing everything. I looked up to the window and noticed it was dark again. I felt defeated, my whole body ached even by breathing and the only rest I've gotten so far was from every time I blacked out from the beatings.

At least there still was one thing they haven't tried, but I knew it was only a matter of time before they did. A ultranationalist got inside the room with a grin on his face as he revolved a knife on his hand. He closed the door behind him and stood right in front of me. This may be the only chance I get to escape...

I fixed my eyes in him and formed a grin on my face as I opened my legs. The man stopped revolving his knife and maliciously smiled at me, placing his knife in his belt. He positioned himself right in front of me, undoing his belt before leaning towards me. I felt his warm and wet tongue sliding from my chin to my lips, making my arm's hairs stand on end in disgust. When I felt he began to slid hid hand to my thigh, I trapped his hand between my legs and smashed my head against him, making him stumble to the ground. I stood up with my hands still tied to each side of the back of the chair and kicked his head, not allowing him to stand up. I backed down a few steps to jump onto his back, breaking the chair against him to then stuck the piece of the chair that remained in my hand in his throat.

I heard footsteps running down to the basement, so I grabbed the knife in his belt and stood beside the door waiting for them to appear. The door slammed open and two men came rushing in. I quickly examined if they had brought any weapons with them and saw one of them had a gun stored in a gun case in his leg.

I closed the door strongly, making them both turn around at the sound of it. The man instantly took his gun out but I kicked it out of his hand before he could end up pointing it at me, throwing it far away at the other end of the room. I kicked him against the wall and tried to dig my knife in his throat, but he stopped my hand and kicked me away, making me drop my knife. I then stopped the fist of the other ultranationalist and kick him away to the other side of the room, making him hit his head strongly against the wall.

I turned to the first ultranationalist just before he wrapped his arm around my neck, tightening it strongly. I groaned before lunging with my legs towards the ground, making us both fall on the hard floor. I dogged the upcoming knife of the other ultranationalist, stopping the next attempts he launched at me to then smack his face, which seemed to have infuriated him even more. He placed his a hand on his cheek in response before launching furious strikes at me, but I kept stopping his arms until I grabbed the knife out of his hand and made several cuts in his chest before turning him around and slicing his throat, then I flipped him again and dug the knife in his stomach, pushing him against the wall when I did.

The last ultranationalist shouted in anger and desperation as he wrapped his arm strongly around my neck. I gagged as I charged several hits to his elbow in order to break free. I then charged a hit to his ribs with both of my arms, making him loose his arm around me, and I quickly grabbed his arm to throw him to the ground. I remained with his arm on my hand to give a final quick to his head, breaking his neck in the process and finally ending the fight.

I stumbled backwards to the ground, my hands crashing hardily against the ground. My arms shaking as my heart beat strongly in my throat. I was in no state for doing this anymore. I stumbled my way to the upper side of the house, in the search of any source of communication.

* * *

 **[Price POV]**

We waited for two days for any sign of her. We opened a search light through the area where I last saw her. We sent several predators, search parties...everything we could, but we couldn't find her.

Ghost didn't sleep in any of those days. I would see him waiting for her call in the control room, holding tightly a necklace inside his hand. One night I came in and tried to convince him to rest, but he ignored me. He just kept rolling that necklace inside of his hand. Last night I heard him shedding tears when no one else was around. I could see in his eyes that he would do anything to get her back, even if that meant starting another war.

It was the third day now, Soap and I went to the control room and stood behind Ghost. We had to stop searching now, shepherd's orders. That bloody idiot only cares about war, but men are thousand times more important. I didn't want to stop searching, but I couldn't stop the other soldiers from following shepherd's orders. I placed my hand on Ghost's shoulder, starting to open my mouth when an 'unidentified access' warning popped into the screen and when we were about to check what it was, her image popped in.

"Is anyone there?" her voice made my body freeze completely. My eyes widened in shock and I heard Ghost let out all the air in his lungs in disbelief. "Hello? This is Wildfire, do you copy?" her image impacted me. She was covered in blood, dirt, bruises and cuts on her arms and face...she looked like shite. Like she'd been butchered.

"Wildfire, we copy!" Soap replied, making us both snap out of out stupefaction. A smile formed in her dried lips as tears of joy began to run down her eyes, her sobs filled the control room and everybody inside instantly stopped what they were doing to witness the moment.

"Wildfire, are you alright?!" Ghost asked when he finally found his voice again and she widened her eyes in clear surprise before water began to fill her eyes again. "Ghost is that you?" she asked, her voice trembling as a small sadden smile formed in her lips.

"It's me, darling" he replied softly. She let out another sob as her eyes kept streaming tears, she covered her eyes with her trembling hands, showing us how damaged were they. "Are you injured in any way?" he asked.

"Not enough to make me stop" she answered, her voice filled determination and with that, she gained my respect. That girl endured days of tortures and still had strength to keep fighting.

"Send us your location, alright? we're coming to get you" Soap said. She let out a sharp laugh and the whole room began to cheer up the moment her location popped in the screen.

"We're coming to get you alright, just hold on darling" said Ghost as he stood up from his chair. "Alright" she responded with a smile, a tear still sliding down her face. "Wildfire out"

The room was still celebrating when Soap hugged Ghost and I couldn't help to from a wide smile in my face in response. I'll be damned, that girl really got out the best of me.

"Alright lads! let's bring the girl back home!" said the captain of the rescue team in the control room and all of them began to coordinate her extraction.

* * *

 **[Wildfire POV]**

I grabbed the laptop and pulled out the hard drive before smashing it against the ground. I positioned myself in the second floor of the house, the gun I stole from one of the ultranationalist in my hand as I seated beside a window, a smile still formed in my face. It was good hearing their voices again...God, It was the best think I could've asked for. I briefly glanced at my watched and noticed it was 1:00 a.m. before letting out a sigh of relaxation.

'They're coming for you… Just hold on' I thought before closing my eyes.

I gasped awake for what I thought was a few seconds later and quickly glanced at my watch again **[6:00 a.m.]**

"Fuck!" I barked before standing up and looked the window, noticing it was dawning, the clouds painted in a light orange color. I went downstairs to search if they had ammunition locked up somewhere. I forced open a door and a gasp of awe escaped my lips while a light grin appeared on my face. They didn't have ammo but what they did have was an arsenal of weapons stored in one room. LOTS of weapons. I grabbed an AWP (sniper) and an AK-47 and took them upstairs.

"I think I can hold position here" I murmured as I entered the room. The sound of cars approaching my location invaded the room as did the cold wind with it. I sat on a chair in front of the window and aimed the sniper towards them but when I looked through the scope, I saw a guy standing on a truck pointing a RPG towards the house.

"Oh shit!" I shouted and quickly stood up from the chair, sprinting towards the exit. The room exploded behind me as I threw myself to the ground, covering my head. I stood up, grabbed the AK and ran downstairs to position myself in another window to shoot at them. As time passed it became difficult for me to keep up with their pace, not to mention I was in no state to do this. I saw myself forced to climb up the stairs once again to take cover in the room beside the one that exploded. At least I had a quick exit through the window to the street if things turned out worse than they already were. I had to throw away the AK when I found myself without bullets and used the pistol instead.

Gladly, a few seconds later a familiar chopper's flapping flooded the room as it appeared in the distance, beginning to help me from above by shooting at the hostiles outside the house. At least that scared the ultranationalists enough to make them retreat. I kept shooting the ones on the inside, cornering myself against the window when I noticed I was running out of bullets. I quickly glanced towards the window and noticed the chopper had landed and MacTavish, Price and Ghost were resuming the shooting outside.

"STOP RIGHT THERE" yelled a ultranationalist from behind me. I slowly turned around, already readying my gun to shoot at him. I quickly aimed towards him and pressed the trigger.

"Fuck!" I swore when no bullets came out of the gun and the ultranationalist as a reflex action shot me in the shoulder. The hit made my body rotate to the left and I took advantage of that to run towards the window and jumped through it, breaking the glass in the process. I landed harshly on the entrance's roof to land even more hardily on the solid ground. I groaned from the pain while grabbing my shoulder in the area that surrounded the bullet's wound. I couldn't find strength to stand up again. I rolled on my back and saw the ultranationalist pointing at me from the window, but just when he was about to press the trigger, a bullet went through his head, making his body disappear from my sight when the fell to the floor.

I heard rapid footsteps behind me followed by strong arms lifting my body, my eyes briefly met Ghost's face before letting out a sharp scream of pain when whatever pressure he did ached to my bones.

"I know. I know it hurts. Listen to me..I know it hurts" he said as I clenched my hand in his arm, his eyes filled with desperation. "You're gonna be okay. I'm going to pick you up now, alright?" He said as he began to lift me again, I groaned when I noticed the pain was coming from my leg, revealing me there was a large piece of glass sticking out of it. "I know darling, I know. Just hold on, we're almost there" he continued as he rushed to take me to the chopper. My eyes met MacTavish, who was covering us by killing the remaining hostiles that dared to aim at us. Then my eyes trailed to the other side, this time meeting Price, who was doing the same on his side.

Ghost placed me carefully inside the chopper before jumping in and the others followed him inside. I noticed a second chopper had landed to clear the area for us to take off. Ghost broke the fabric where the bullet went through my shoulder and began to roll up his sleeves. Price and MacTavish knelt beside him before breaking the fabric in my leg to start treating my injuries in every way they could. I felt my eyes getting lost in the distance until I was not able to see anything anymore.

* * *

"Don't do this to me" I heard a distant fainting voice. "Please, please don't do this. don't do this...don't..."


	15. Chapter 15

I slowly woke up to the sound of turning pages as I struggled to open my eyes against the brightness of the room. I tilted my head to the left and saw a dark silhouette sitting beside me.

"Welcome to the land of the living" The man said as he turned yet another page of his book. I didn't recognize his voice at first, but his darkened skin revealed me his identity.

"Wheathley?" I said, my voice sounding surprisingly weak, almost like a weak whisper. I tried hardily to focus my sight in his form against the blinding light. "What are you doing here?" I asked, now starting to see clearly. He placed one finger between the pages of his book and closed it as he looked at me with his light brown eyes.

"Is that how you treat a friend who has been taking good care of you?" he said, a small smile forming in his lips as he raised a brow.

"Sorry" I apologized as I shut my eyes again and ran one hand through my face. "How long have I been out?" I continued.

"Two days, I think" he said naturally, making me snap my eyes back open. I raised my hand from my face in surprise and lifted my head a little bit. "Two days?!" I tried hardily to straighten up in a sitting position with my weak and sore arms, but I wasn't strong enough to do it yet.

"Whoa- hold down your horses there, lady" He exclaimed as he stood up and held me down, forbidding me to move any further. "Don't overstrain yourself. You practically just got out of a comma"

"where is everyone? and why are you really here Wheathley?" I questioned as I searched for answers in his eyes.

He let out a sigh before sitting again. "I'm here because you didn't take the pills for more than three days. I managed to get it into your system again to avoid the withdrawal that was already starting."

I pushed my brows together "And how did you know?"

"Your Lieutenant contacted me" he answered, making me relax my face and briefly form a slight smile. "It seems he really cares for you. At least I know you're in good hands in here" his smile slowly faded as his eyes lost in the distance before moving them back to me. "That man was destroyed, Angelica. You should have seen him...He had his eyes red for all the crying he had been through, big and dark bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep. I don't know what is happening between you two, but the way he looks at you...he really cares about you."

I felt tears starting to push their way out and a strong knot forming in my throat, preventing me from speaking. Ghost had no idea the only thing that made me resist all those days of torture was him. The promise I made him...that I would get back. That I would get back to him.

"As to where they are...They should arrive today" he continued. I snapped my eyes back to him while knitting my eyes brows in confusion. "arrive today?" I let out when the knot in my throat vanished.

He nodded in response. "They went to a mission to check some Intel, as I've been informed. But if you ask me they didn't seem to have a choice either way"

I frowned at his comment, still unable to understand.

"General Shepherd came to visit you the other day and he didn't seem to be very happy about your survival which is odd because technically I saved their'investment' " He began, doing a quotation gesture with his hands. "Anyway" he continued "He argued that you were delaying the whole operation and that they couldn't just wait for you to 'decide to wake up' . That they needed to end this war now."

What's the hell...

"And did MacTavish say anything? Price?" I asked, my eyes waiting for an answer.

"Dear, your lieutenant didn't give him the chance of anything" a slight smile formed in his lips again as he said that. "He said that it was his fault you were laying here in this bed to begin with, but shepherd practically said that he preferred you to be dead."

I scoffed. I never imagined shepherd being capable of this...to be that kind of person. I always thought high of him. I even admired the fact that so many people had him on a pedestal. His behavior is just... It doesn't make any sense.

"So, as you can imagine, your 'lover boy' went over shepherd and gave him a good few rounds. It was quite a fight." He said, a soft chuckle escaping his throat. "Your Captain didn't stop him at first, I think he wanted to see shepherd getting his ass kicked too. But he finally separated them and ordered your guy to take a walk, although he didn't called him by his name...I can't remember-"

"Ghost" I let out breathless.

"Right! that was it" Wheathley said, but he didn't realize I wasn't looking at him when his name slipped out of my lips. Tears began to form in my eyes again. A slight smile appeared in my lips as quiet whimper escaped my lips, which made Wheathley frown in confusion. Ghost dropped his bag on the floor, causing Wheathley to turn his head around searching for the origin of the noise. Soft chuckles vibrated in my throat as tears of joy ran down from my eyes. Ghost took off his mask, allowing me to see his face and looked at me with those gorgeous sky-blue eyes I've missed so much.

"Hi" I said with my stifled voice. I wanted to say more...God. There was so much more I wanted to, but the knot in my throat wasn't letting me. Wheathley stood up and headed for the exit with a smile on his face.

"She's all yours now" he said to Ghost as he patted his back and closed the door behind him, leaving us alone in the room.

I struggled to sit on the bed with my legs hanging above the floor, but before I could finish, Ghost rushed towards me and pulled me into his arms, squeezing me gently.

"Hi" he managed to say at last. I let out a sharp laugh as I buried my face in shoulder. We remained like that for a few minutes before he tore himself out of my arms. I was about to protest when his lips sought mine's for a kiss. at last. His kiss felt like heaven itself, like a cool breeze in the hot summer. I think Ghost felt the same way, because he clutched at me like if he was afraid I would disappear, but I was not planning on going anywhere. Not without him.


	16. Chapter 16

t didn't take too long before MacTavish and Price joined us in the room, filling the air with their presence.

"Welcome to the land of the living" MacTavish exclaimed with a smile as he walked towards me. I quietly laughed as I leaned back against the headboard. "I'd been told that too many times now"

"You became very famous here around the base" Price said as he appeared in my line of sight. " 'The girl who massacred an entire army herself' they say" He smiled gently. I frowned as a little smile appeared in the corner of my lips. "An army? Well that should be interesting to hear"

He chuckled at my words until his smile slowly vanished, slightly shaking his head. "Why did you do it?" he asked quietly as he looked at me with hurt in his eyes. "why sacrifice yourself for me?"

I gave him a soft smile in response. "Because I didn't want you to get captured, not again. I think you had enough" I replied softly. "Thank you for coming after me" I continued as I trailed my eyes on everyone to finally land on Ghost's when his hand cupped mine.

"We take care of our friends" Price said gently as he placed his hand on my shoulder. A knock on the door made us all look towards it as it cracked opened.

"Alright, Gentlemen. Visit time is over, she needs to rest" Wheathley said as he walked inside the room.

"We'll see you soon, alright?" MacTavish said he came close to kiss my forehead.

"Alright" I replied with a smile.

"See you soon, kiddo. Get better" Price said as he winked at me before heading out. I trailed my eyes to Ghost, finding him staring back at me as if waiting for my permission to leave.

"It's alright" I said softly. "I'll catch up with you"

He nodded as he came closer and gently pressed his lips on my forehead "I'll be outside" he said before heading towards the exit while putting his mask on. Before leaving he placed his hand on Wheathley's shoulder, to which Wheathley responded with a smile and one assuring nod to then close the door behind Ghost.

"I knew they would like you" he said with a smile on his face as he locked the door, not before checking no one was around. Then he grabbed a chair and dragged it closer to me. "There is something I need to tell you" he said as he sat down. My smile disappeared with his words, gluing my eyes to his eyes. "what is it?" I asked.

"Oh, don't worry" he said, obviously noticing my concern. "It has nothing to do with you. Well, it has but…" he twisted his mouth, trying to find the appropriate words. "It has to do mostly with General Shepherd" he finally said.

I let out a huge sigh of relief "what about him?" I asked, a little bit more relaxed now.

"Shepherd took control over the facility" He said without moving his stare from me. "By the look on your face I'm going to assume you didn't know"

"What…?" I barely got out, my eyes widened in astonishment and my brows knit in confusion.

"We are testing the pills now and the soldiers...one made it, Angelica. One survived it"

I tried to feign a smile, but I couldn't. I should be happy, shouldn't I? This was part of the deal after all. I would work here until they got their male soldier. I knew I was an expendable asset, it's just... things have changed so much since then... I hardly know what I want anymore.

I lifted my eyes to Wheathley's when he began to search for something in his lab coat. "You know.." he began "I did came here to check on you, but you were right, that wasn't all"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I don't know whats going on, but I can tell you this, Shepherd is hiding something. He too secretive about the experiments, he doesn't want anyone to know what we're doing down there, even Macmillan. He doesn't want us to report to anyone but him. I don't know...maybe is me. You know I've never been confident about people."

"I doubt he is planning something. I mean, maybe he is, but it sure is to win this war. Things are ugly out there, Wheathley. I think the last thing Shepherd wants is to prolong it."

"You're probably right... sorry. It's just, my mind is constantly working against me these days."

"Have you been taking your pills? You need to take them, Wheathley, you know I can't be there to remind you." Wheathley had this problem called Schizophrenia. It can really drive you insane hearing an extra voice inside your head telling you everyone is plotting against you.

"Yes. I might have forgotten to take the last one" he replied as he raised his eyes to the ceiling as if trying to recall his schedule.

I tried to keep focus on what he was saying, but I couldn't. Something was happening to me. I did not feel alright. "Wheathley...what is happening to me? did you give me something while I was asleep?" I asked as I placed a hand on my head when everything began to spin around me.

"Well, now that you asking. I managed to translate the serum into a virus. So your body is probably fighting against it right now. You'll be terribly weak until your system takes it in. You know the drill" was Wheathley's relaxed explanation before he stood up and called Ghost inside. He said and instructed him something I couldn't make out, their voices sounded like mumbling in my numb ears. Ghost then came to me and helped me stand up by placing my arm around his neck to head towards the exit, but my feet weren't working anymore.

I felt cold sweat running down my face and my breathing became more shallow and struggling as seconds passed. Ghost passed his arm below my knees to lift me from the ground and carry me towards the exit. I grabbed Wheathley's hand, trying hardily to remain conscious to hold my grip onto him. He came closer to my face and stopped just beside my ear. "Don't say a word to anyone" he whispered before loosing his hand around mine. I closed my eyes and let myself fall into the dark abyss.


	17. Chapter 17

Bullet shots rang in my ears as I fired towards the enemy. My rapid breathing matched the beatings of my heart as I redirected my frightened gaze towards Ghost. His shallow breathing matched mine's as he slightly shook his head to me. I turned my head around to see how MacTavish took cover near the trees we were in and fired furiously towards the enemy, then trailed my eyes back to Ghost.

He began to move towards me but bullets impacted all over his chest, making him fall harshly on the ground as blood gushed from the wounds.

"Simon!" I screamed as I tried to move to his position, but the bullets changed their direction towards me, forbidding me to even take a step out of cover.

Tears began to stream down my eyes as breathing became impossible for me. I moved my eyes towards MacTavish as he turned to look at me, but a bullet flew through his head sending a spray of blood through the air before his lifeless body fell on the ground.

"No!" I cried loudly while digging my fingers against the bark of the tree. I sobbed as I readied my weapon with shaking hands towards the enemy, but when I aimed at them, I saw no one. Instead, every enemy was replaced with a dense white fog.

"What..." I muttered as tears still ran down from my eyes. Shepherd appeared from the fog with his clothes tinged with blood as he walked towards me while reloading his magnum.

" Shepherd, wha-" I stopped abruptly when he aimed his magnum at me and fired without giving me the chance to end my sentence. A sharp feeling of coldness began to grow in my stomach and I looked down at my abdomen, watching how blood gushed out from the shot. I placed my fingers on top of the wound and watched how they damped in blood before I fell on my knees. I looked up to shepherd, only to see him aiming to my head and-

I woke up abruptly with a sharp gasp for air and instantly sat down as my rapid shallow breathing matched the accelerated beatings of my heart. My mind was still figuring out the dream from reality when Ghost placed his hand gently on my back, making me slightly jump away from the sudden touch.

"you alright?" he asked concerned as I still panted for air. I noticed the effects of the virus were gone, but still...that nightmare felt thousands times worse.

"Yeah, I just-" I stopped and placed a hand in my chest, trying to ease my breathing. I closed my eyes and slightly shook my head "I just had a nightmare, that's all. I'm sorry I woke you" I said while opening them again.

He gently rubbed my back with his eyes still locked in mine's. "What were you dreaming about?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.

I shook my head "Nothing, Just…" I leaned back to the bed again adjusting my body to give him my back, not wanting him to see how my hands shivered from fear. "Go back to sleep." I said quietly.

My hands still quivered under the sheets when I felt Simon's hand sliding into mine, interlacing his fingers with my own to ease my hands. "It was just a dream" he whispered against my skin "It wasn't real"

It felt very real to me... "I know" I replied quietly.

 **[Ghost pov]**

I couldn't bare it any longer. It was hard seeing her like this, so emaciated and destroyed. The doctors moved frenetically around her, trying their best to save her. I clenched my hands when one doctor climbed up her bed and started performing CPR on her chest. I locked my eyes in her pale face as it moved in response of the CPR. she had her eyes opened looking at the ceiling, like if she wasn't there.

I heard footsteps running from behind me, but I couldn't take my eyes off her. Not right now.

"How is she?" John asked as he stood beside me, looking through the window that led to her. The sight of her seemed to have affected him as well, because he widened his eyes as he covered his mouth before I could answer.

"We are losing her again! Where's the Epinephrine?!" the man on top of her shouted as another doctor injected her the Epinephrine right in her chest and I felt coldness starting to grow inside me as I waited endlessly for a sign of life.

"Move out of the way" one of the men shouted as he brought the defibrillator. The man on top of her climbed down and the other doctor placed the two plates on her chest.

The beeping sounds coming from her vital signs monitor accelerated their pace until it was ended by one distinct and constant sound. I watched how a straight line appeared in the monitor where her heartbeats had just been a second ago and my whole body froze as I widened my eyes.

"Clear!" I heard him shout and her body moved in response of the electrical discharge but her eyes weren't moving anymore.

Please…Please…Please…

My pained breathing made me feel suffocated as I tried hardly to breathe. The sharp coldness began to invade every fiber of my body and I felt hot tears pushing their way to my eyes.

They charged again and gave her another discharge, but she wasn't responding. A doctor placed both hands on her chest to continue the CPR but another doctor placed his hand on top of the one doing the CPR, beckoning him to stop as he slightly shook his head and the man retreated leaving her alone in the table.

"NO!" I heard John scream in the distance.

My eyes clenched in her lifeless face. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move...I couldn't take my eyes off her face. No matter how much I wanted to turn away from this. I couldn't continue anymore. I couldn't do this. I couldn't...

"Ghost?" I felt a hand on my shoulder. I placed my hand on the window, somehow expecting she would react to that action and gasp awake again, alive.

This must be a dream. This cant be real. I can't lose her. I just got her back...

"No…no…no… this can't be happening" I said while shaking my head. "This cant be happening!" I screamed as I hit the glass with my fists.

"Simon!" I head John scream at me, but I kept slamming the glass as I felt tears running down from my eyes. "NO!" I screamed from the bottom of my lungs while hitting the glass repeatedly and it began to crack under my fists.

"Simon!" I felt someone stirring my arm. "Simon!"

I gasped awake with my heart still in my throat. My hand quickly searched for hers on the mattress, desperately trying to find her.

"Hey, Hey, I'm right here" she said softy as she eased my hand. My eyes clenched into hers as I touched her face, making sure she was real and not a product of my imagination, letting out a huge sigh of relief when my cold fingers met her warm face.

"We're quite a mess" she said bluntly, a smile reflecting in her voice. I slightly chuckled in response before running a hand through my face, clearing my mind from the dream. She bent over me to turn on the nightstand lamp then laid over me, placing both of her hands over my chest, supporting her head on them. she sighed with a smile as she fixed her eyes in me.

A slight smile formed in the corner of my lips as I ran my fingers through her long hair. The images of her lifeless body laying on that OR table still flashed in my mind and I shut my eyes, slightly shaking my head in a attempt to cleanse my mind from that scene.

"What is it?" she asked quietly. I opened my eyes and heavily sighed, giving her a small smile as I shook my head to then bury it on her neck and tighten my arms around her, pressing her chest against mine. I breathed in her scent and basked in her warm body around my arms. Yes, this was real...

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked softly with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Yeah, just..." I breathed in heavily once more. "I just... missed your scent, that's all" I let out as I loosened my arms around her and our eyes met again. she gave me a sadden smile as she stared back at me with pain in her eyes. Then she ran her fingers through my hair and I could feel her nails sliding through my scalp.

This was so surreal. I used to wake up of nightmares like this and just roll over, trying to get back to sleep. Although, My nightmares back then were different. That is because the fear of losing her took over everything else.

I bent my head towards her discovering her lips. Her kisses were slow and gentile against my own, and I enjoyed every minute and taste of it. Our chest raised with each breathing, pressing against each other. I deviated from her lips to leave soft kisses through her neck, then my lips trailed back to her lips and rested there as my fingers slid through the curve of her waist.

"I love you" I got out when we tore apart. I'm sure my brother would laugh if he saw me right now. Specially because I once told him that I would never be able to step down from this life. That I would never be able to find anyone to bring me back.

She formed a smile before resting her head back on my chest and I placed my arms around her again as she let out a heavy sigh of content. "I love you too" she said against my chest, making me smile while my heartbeats flickered against my chest and I'm more than sure she was able to hear them. My sight grew dim as my eyes felt tired again and I slowly closed them in response. No more nightmares disturbed us that night. In fact, that was one of the best nights I've ever had. My mind still revolved around the words my bother once told me, maybe I was ready to settle down. I could do it for **her**.


	18. Chapter 18

My pupils contracted in response of the brightness of the bathroom's light. cold drops of water slid down my face as I examined my face once more and noticed it was getting...better. At least the swollen parts were, all thanks to the anti-inflammatory pills. I felt no pain, that was thanks to the PCED probably.

I let out a heavy sigh before turning around and heading towards the cold room again. Just when I was about to turn off the light, I noticed Simon was sitting on the bed, his eyes fixed in the emptiness. I guess he had something stuck in his mind too. I leaned against the door frame while crossing my arms on my chest as I contemplated him. He was using this...dark-blue pajama bottom and completely shirtless, leaving visible all his scars. I briefly glanced down at my uncovered legs and noticed a few bruises marking my skin. I smiled at the fact that he dressed me with his shirt of the 141 and didn't even try to put pants on me.

Simon was still immersed in his thought when I walked towards him reducing the space between us, which finally made him raise his eyes towards me. A light smile formed in his lips as I climbed on top of him, drawing my thighs to frame his hips.

"What are you thinking about?" I softly asked as he slid his arms around me, slightly raising my shirt. His arms felt strong against my skin, and the way our bodies tangled perfectly to each other almost made me think we were made for one another. I trailed my fingers tenderly through his neck towards his scalp while he pressed his head against my chest. I stroke his hair a few times more before placing my hand on his chin so our eyes could meet again.

"Hmm?" I quietly asked again and he formed a soft caring smile in response.

"Why don't ya' come a little closer?" he replied a in a low deep voice. A slight smile formed in the corner of my lips as I slowly leaned my head and locked my lips with his. He moved softly against them as his cold palms sought the warmth of my covered skin. My hand clawed against his back when he brushed his lips against the curve of my neck while running questing fingers up my chest, slowly lifting my shirt. He tossed the shirt away and I cupped his face between my hands as our lips met once again. His strong arms surrounded me once more and I pressed my body hardly against him when I ached for his skin.

He moved his cold fingers to my thigh and held me strongly as he stood up, bringing me along with him. Then, he placed me carefully on the bed again as he began to untie his pants. I fixed my eyes on the big and deep scar he had on his ribs. My heart ached at the memory of how he got it. I closed my eyes and softly pressed my lips on his scar. My heart flickered inside my chest as if it were our first time, and it kinda felt like it was. Our first time was filled with lust and desire, but this time...this time was different.

He softly raised my lips towards him again and locked our mouths with a kiss, slowly pushing me further into the bed as he opened path between my legs. Then he pulled back and began to trail kisses coming from the bruises of my legs to finally land on the one in my mouth and I wrapped my arm around his neck pulling him closer to deepen the kiss.

I wished all our mornings could be like this. A grin appeared in the corner of my lips at that thought, but before I could say anything he arched up against me, making me gasp a soft moan at the pleasurable burn of him sliding in. His lips then trailed trough the curve of my neck as I began to move my hips in response to his thrusts. It took just a few seconds for us to find a rhythm we could both move harmoniously. I wrapped my arm behind his shoulder and pressed his body against mine as he breathed heavily under my neck. his thrusts began to pick up pace as he buried his head in my neck and clenched his hand in the mattress.

His grunting grew louder with each thrust and I leaned back my head when I felt his release inside me. I flipped him over with my leg so I was the one on top now and planted a soft kiss on his lips before starting to move my hips against his. He grabbed my waist strongly as he leaned up to press his lips in my neck. I felt the tension starting to build up, making me moan louder in response. Simon slid his arm to my back to hold me closer to him as he jerked his hips strongly against mine while planting kisses on my neck. I just got time to pronounce the first syllable of his name before arching my back in euphoria as I felt him release inside me again and he pressed me harder to his body as I rode out of it. He then rose up to return to our initial position as he clung his lips with mine's and I wrapped my arm around his neck as he clenched his fingers in my skin before breaking apart. He stared up at me as a small smile formed in the corner of his lips before leaning towards me again. I chuckled as he pressed his lips against mine and I could feel the commissure of his lips rising up in a smile.

"I love you" I whispered to him when we broke apart. He slid his hand to the back of my head to deepen the kiss before slowly retreating. "I love you" He replied in a deep voice before sealing our lips together anew.

* * *

When I finished readying myself Simon was already dressed up waiting for me leaning against the desk beside the door. He had his lenses on but not his mask, and I could see he was lost in thought again with his arms crossed on his chest and his eyes fixed in the far corner of the room.

"Is everything alright?" I quietly asked as I turned off the bathroom's light, which made him redirect his eyes towards me in response. He formed a small smile on his lips, nodding once in response. "Yes, darling" he replied as he walked towards me to plant a kiss on my front head.

"Let's go then" I smiled and he opened the door to head outside. I told Simon about the hard drive I took out of the laptop, hopefully something useful was going be stored in there. We went for MacTavish's office to present what I retrieved from where they held me. I felt eyes everywhere as we walked towards it and it was starting to make me feel nervous. I felt I was chocking when Simon slid his hand inside mine, interlacing his fingers with my own and my anxiety attack vanish in the air the moment I met his eyes. I let out a sigh of relief before forming a smile in my face and redirecting my eyes to the path.

When we arrived, Price and MacTavish were already inside. MacTavish told me to give the hard drive to him so that they could start checking what was inside. we found several things, but among them were four locations, all of them safe houses of Makarov. Two of them in Ukraine, one near the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia, and the last one in Eastern Afghanistan.

"I suggest we go for two safe houses in Ukraine first" said Price. "Then we'll split for the other two"

"Ghost. Try to find out whatever you can about those houses, or at least what's near them. Nightfire, you and price will make the pre-planning. I'll help Ghost"

"Roger that" I said as I walked over Price.

"Let's move people" MacTavish said as he walked towards Simon to get out of the room, while Price and I remained to start the planning. We made a list of all the weapons we would need for the mission, and agreed the night was the best hour to proceed, we would be invisible. We also agreed we did not needed more men apart from the four of us. The less The better.

When Simon and MacTavish brought us the first two blueprints and satellite images, we began to plan how were we going to get in, and what were we going to do if we needed a quick way out. The houses weren't that far from one another, one at each end of the country, so that left us with two options. Either all four of us could go for one house and then the other, or we could split and go for the two houses at the same time. We didn't have to get in. We didn't have to raise the alarm exactly. First we had to confirm he was there, that's all we needed to do.

After a six hours of work, Price stepped out to take a break, but I remained in MacTavish's office trying to advance as much as I could . His desk was filled with papers, plannings, blue prints, satellite images, laptops...

My hair was tied in a messy bun, the upper side of the uniform tied on my waist leaving me only with the black tank top. If we succeed in this...then all could end. This was finally going to end. My hands were placed against the desk when I lifted my eyes at the sound of the door opening. Simon's face appeared from the gap and my eyes instantly landed in his light blue eyes.

"hey" I let out while forming a poor smile. He walked over me with a light smile on his lips, his eyes landing on the desk and trailing between all the papers and blue prints on top of it. He then interlaced his fingers in my hair before planting a kiss on my front head.

"Why don't you take a break, hm?" he said softly. "Take a walk with me" I really just wanted to finish, but his blue eyes were so full of hope I couldn't deny his request. I kindly smiled at him before letting out a tired sigh "alright" I responded quietly.

"Come on" he slid his hand to my back and gently pushed my out of the office. The light of the day hurt my eyes as soon as I passed the front door. It felt like someone had just thrown pointy needles inside my eyes. "Wow.." I said as I placed a hand above my eyes to cover it from the sunlight. "I've been locked in there for too long it seems" I continued as I removed my hand when my eyes got used to the light.

"You have" he answered "I was surprised when Price told me you didn't want to take a break. May I ask why is that?" he asked as we walked towards a more lone and distant part of the base, his eyes scanning my face as he waited for my answer.

"Nothing, It's just...we are so close to finally finishing this. I kinda have mixed fillings about it. I'm scared but I'm also very glad it is coming to an end...I don't know.." I frowned while forming a smile in my face. "I think I'm losing my head" I added as I met his eyes and he let out a deep chuckle in response.

"I think we all feelin' that way, which brings me..." he said as he stopped his march, making me stop mine while knitting my brows in confusion. "You asked me what was I thinking this morning..." he began.

What...is this?

"My brother once asked me if I would ever be ready to step out from this...and settle down, which of course back then I replied that I wouldn't" he said while taking a step forward to me. The beatings of my heart tightening my chest as my eyes looked for answers in his eyes.

"The thing is...I think I'm ready now" my eyes widened a little as a smile started to appear in my lips, a strong knot forming in my throat. "So perhaps, if you want, after this ends, we could settle down... together"

I felt tears pushing their way out of my eyes, the knot in my throat making it impossible for me to respond, so I just nodded enthusiastically with the happiest smile I'd ever given to anyone, my hart joyfully flickering inside my chest.

"Ye?" he asked as a wide smile appeared in his lips, his gorgeous smile filled with happiness. "Would you like that?"

I let out a sharp joyful laugh before nodding again, my arms then instantly wrapped around his neck and his strong arms surrounded me as he chuckled. This couldn't get any better. Not only were we right around the corner to finishing this, but Simon and I could start a life together...away from all this.

When we finally finished all the planing and tabled the mission, we headed for the dining hall and not even coffee could maintain me awake anymore. It was 3:00 in the morning and the only soldiers that still were wandering around apart from us where the one's who were being deployed. Our laughter and chatter echoed among the walls of the lone cafeteria, but my head was asking to give in. "Sorry folks, I'm awfully tired. I think I'm gonna pass out in my bed now" I said as I stood up from the table.

"Go rest, kiddo. You earned it" said Price as he smiled at me.

I winked at MacTavish as he waved at me while finishing his beer. I was starting to turn around when I felt a pull on my pants. "Oi" Simon said while tilting up his head and I smiled as I leaned down to plant a quick kiss on his lips.

"See you in a few hours guys" I said as I gave a final wave to them, and they raised their glasses with a smile on their faces. I turned around and walked towards the exit. The moment my head touched the pillow, I forgot about everything.. well, almost everything. Tomorrow was sure going to be a red letter day.


	19. Chapter 19

My eyes slowly opened when I felt the room spinning around me, my stomach instantly responding to that feeling of dizziness by forming a strong knot that only boosted the strong feeling of nausea. I softly unraveled myself from Simon's arm and threw the covers aside, hearing Simon's low grunt of discomfort in response. I sat on the bed, feeling the sickness in my stomach increasing with each second. I felt a rush coming up to my throat, making me stand instantly on my feet and rush towards bathroom, turning the light on as I flashed past it.

"Angelica?" I heard Simon say behind me just before I crashed on my knees in front of the toilet and threw up roughly into the bowl. I heard Simon's hastened footsteps coming from the bedroom, rushing his way inside. I lifted my arm towards his direction, stopping him from moving any further. "I'm alright" I barely got out, but instantly contradicted myself when I threw up inside the bowl again.

Simon ignored my previous petition and knelt beside me, gently lifting the hair from my face as I vomited every last piece of food I ever ate, I think I even saw things from the week before.

"Do you want me to take you to the infirmary?" he asked concerned, but I shook my head in response. "I'm alright" I said again before flushing the toilet. I supported myself against the seat of the toilet, struggling to catch my breath. "I'm feeling a lot better now, actually." I said before cleaning my mouth with a piece of toilet paper. "Probably something I ate made me sick"

"You sure?" he asked, rubbing his thumb tenderly on my back. "I'm sure" I replied before standing up, making him mimic my actions. I briefly glanced at my watch, noticing it was five in the morning. "Go bad to bed. I'll join you in a sec" I said as my hand met the toothbrush.

"Alright..." he replied quietly, planting a kiss in my forehead before heading back to the bedroom. When Simon disappeared behind the door frame, I placed my hand against the sink. The dizziness wasn't gone and I didn't feel alright at all, but I didn't want to worry him. It would probably pass and the last thing I needed was having him worried about me. All I needed was a good sleep. When I finished cleaning myself, my body sought for warmness again now that cold ached to my bones. I snuggled back into the bed and buried my nose in Simon's neck. I could smell his unique scent, his skin just a few inches away from my lips. "If you're not feeling well-" he began.

"Simon, I'm fine. I promise" I lied, exhaling my words against his skin. He let out a heavy sigh before wrapping me in his arms again.

* * *

When my eyes opened anew, Simon was no longer in bed. My arm was lazily hanging from the edge of the bed and my face was pressed against the pillow. As my blurred vision cleared, I noticed a tray of food placed on top of the night table. I lifted my face from the pillow to look at what was in it and saw a bowl of soup with a small note beside it. My fingers reached for the note and brought it up close to my eyes. 'Eat this. you'll feel better'. I tugged my lips up in a smile before folding the note away and sitting up to start taking the soup.

The soup tasted good - God, it tasted like heaven and best of all? it was still warm. It was just what I needed now that Simon wasn't around to heat me up. I wished I could stay in bed all day, but I couldn't. So with great effort - and will - , I got out of bed, showered and put on my dark camo pants, 141 shirt and boots to head outside the barracks.

Even though my condition wasn't the best, I found myself enjoying the morning. It is funny, now that I think about it. Maybe my father was right, maybe this kind of life was for me after all. I felt so comfortable here. I hardly miss being a doctor anymore and I think a part of me that always wanted this, but since my father wanted to force it in me... I guess I didn't want to give in, just as any rebellious children.

My eyes closed when I bumped into someone, making me stumble backwards from the collision. I lifted my face and found ice blue eyes in return. "Thinking too hard? I called you twenty times" said MacTavish.

"Sorry" I apologized, feeling my cheeks warming in embarrassment. "yes...I think I got a lot in my head"

"Oh, I just might have something for that, Lieutenant" he began as he placed his hand behind my back and pushed me gently towards the 141's quarters. "Since tomorrow night starts the possible final search for Makarov, I thought we could celebrate tonight. There's a pub not too far away from here. What do you say?" He asked, his eyes were so warm and welcoming it was almost impossible to say no. The idea didn't seem bad, it was quite tentative actually, but...I had so much work to do. I had to make sure everything was set up and ready to go, that everything was... perfect. Everything needed to be perfect. There was no room for error and just like the old saying, if you want something well done, you have to do it yourself.

"MacTavish...I don't know. I have to-"

"-see everything is set up for tomorrow? done. I did it this morning."

"And the-"

"They are already packed up and ready to use" he replied before I could finish.

We agreed that If we didn't find Makarov in any of the safe houses, at least we would leave cameras to monitor the place and keep an eye out for him. We didn't want to scare him off my stomping our way in. We needed him to feel safe, to feel 'secure' in his safe houses. There are four of them after all and he can't be in all of them at once.

"what about-" I trailed out again.

"Angelica" he let out in an annoyed sigh, making me shut my mouth in response. "Trust us, Trust me" he said, staring deeply into my eyes and I felt myself compelled to give in. "Okay..." I replied quietly. "Fine"

His face illuminated with a bright smile before placing his hand on my back again. "it will be good for you. Take a break from all this, and focus in what really matters" he said as he gently pushed me inside the quarters.

It's been a long time since I last placed a foot in here. This is where my life in the one four one started. That moment seemed so far away now. It feels like centuries have passed. So much has changed in these few months...

When MacTavish cracked open the door, my eyes instantly landed on Simon, who was leaning against a big wooden table as he chattered with Price. He immediately interrupted his conversation to look at me, forming a soft smile when his eyes met mine's.

"How are you feelin'?" He asked as I walked towards him. He slid his arm around me while planting a kiss on my forehead and I formed a light smile while getting out a deep sigh. "Better" I replied.

"Are you getting sick, kiddo?" Price asked, placing his hot cup of tea on top of the table.

"I'm alright. I was a little sick this morning, but I think it was something I ate last night" I replied.

"I agree. Last night I found myself feeling a little stomach ache too, but I was so tired I couldn't even feel my arse." he said, making my throat vibrate with a gentle chuckle "Do you want hot tea? Perhaps it can help. It sure helped me" he continued.

"Yes, please" I answered with a grateful smile. MacTavish turned on the light bulb of the lamp that hovered just above the table, illuminating the whole plans, blueprints and satellite images on top of it.

"There is something else we need to discuss" he began, locking his eyes in me. "I know you want to stealth this. I know you want to keep it as quiet as possible, and that is the main plan, but if we happen to mess up, we need a plan B. if it's possible even a plan C" he stated.

"Of course. It is totally understandable" I replied quietly. There is no way you can disagree to that. It is a smart move. This kind of operation kinda reminds me of a chess game sometimes, it is all about anticipating.

"The original plan just included the four of us, but if we somehow fall into plan B, then we need at least another person"

"And who do you have in mind?" I asked.

"Me" said a voice coming from behind us. I turned my head around to see who was it and found Archer standing at the entrance. "Captain MacTavish" he greeted him. "Lieutenants" he continued with us.

"Come here, Archer" MacTavish ordered, beckoning him to step closer to us.

"He is going to supply us with support. We need someone to watch our backs in the distance." MacTavish continued, my eyes examining Archer's face. I've never had the time to appreciate his features before, at least not like this. I had to admit Archer was a handsome guy, he had golden eyes and dark brown hair. He also had a scar coming up from the back of his chin to his cheek, but that didn't make him less appealing.

Price appeared into my line of sight, carefully handing me the cup of hot tea. "Here you go, darling" he said with a caring smile in his face. "Thank you" I replied, feeling its warmth basking my both hands.

"Captain Price" Archer greeted him to which Price responded with a respectful nod.

"And where is he going to hold position?" I asked.

"That is something that you and Price have to discuss with him. You two have studied the place and know it better than any of us"

"Understood" I replied before lifting the cup and taking it to my lips, immediately feeling the hot water travel down my throat and feeling its warmth spread through my stomach.

"Ghost and I will talk to the pilots to coordinate the exfils and deployments. The location stays the same, right?" he asked me.

"Yes. Tell them to deploy us here" I began, pointing with my finger at an area that was at a considerable distance from the safe house, we didn't want them to know we are coming. "And extract us here" I continued, sliding my finger across the map to another area.

"Roger That. Come on, mate" he ordered Simon as he walked towards the exit. Simon seductively winked at me before lowering his sunglasses and following MacTavish outside, inevitably making me form a smirk in response.

It didn't take us too long to explain Archer the whole plan. We found a perfect spot for him. No one and nothing would bother him there, and he also had a perfect sight for us. After a few hours of debrief, Price stepped out to the bathroom leaving me and Archer alone in the room. I didn't know what to say. I guess this is what happens when you don't socialize with your teammates at all.

"So..." I began, ending the awkward silence between us. "are you excited this is coming to an end?" I asked.

"I don't want to put my hopes up yet" he replied, the awkward silence returning again. My eyes landed on the table when I couldn't find anything to reply with. "but..." he continued, making my eyes lift up to him again "I guess you could say I am excited"

"Have any family to return to?" I asked.

"I do actually. My wife and daughter" he replied, making me my lift brows in surprise. "I had no idea you had a family. I can't imagine how it is for them to have you far away for so long"

"It is hard, but my wife...she understands. My daughter, on the other hand...well, she's only six."

"What's her name?" I asked softly, placing the hot tea on the table.

"Emilia Holland Borowski" he replied.

"Borowski? That's polish" I acknowledged as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Yes, my wife...she's Polish. Natalia Borowski is her name" he replied as he leaned against the table, folding his arms over his chest.

"Really? How did you two met?" I asked, not being able to control my curiosity. Him being British and her being Polish? sure there is an interesting story behind that.

"When I worked in the S.A.S... I lost a lot of teammates on a mission back in Poland. We were lodging in a base over there, a job that needed to be done." he said, briefly scratching his brow. "I went out to a pub that day, you know, in search for the old remedy for pain" He said, a little embarrassed that was he so called 'solution'.

"Then I met her" he continued "and she gave this...warm smile. It was exactly what I needed in that moment. My polish was a little rusty back then and her english was not that good, but we managed to understand each other" he said, a small smile forming in his lips. "since I was working over there, I got to get out with her a lot in my free time. Then a few months later when they ordered to send me back to England, I asked her if she wanted to come with me, that I didn't have much but...well. To my delight she said yes. The rest is history really"

I gave him a bright smile at the end of his tail. "I'm glad for you, Archer. I hope you can return to them soon"

"Thomas" he said. "My name is Thomas Holland" He continued as he lifted his hand for me to shake it. I looked at it before forming a light smile and sliding my hand inside his. "Nice to meet you, Thomas" I replied softly.

Something was certainly different. I guess this is what is called "bonding" with your teammates. Price broke into my line of sight, making us both turn our heads towards him and releasing each other's hands as he closed the door behind him. "Alright, where were we?" he asked as he dried his hands against his pants and walked towards us.

* * *

I gathered my hair into a ponytail, immediately climbing the treadmill. I stretched my legs a bit before turning the treadmill on and keeping up the pace. My eyes briefly glanced at the clock, noticing it was 5:00 p.m.

It's strange to be back. Sometimes being here feels surreal. Sometimes I think I'm still back at that basement. I feel the rush in my veins, desperation taking over me but all is soon vanished the moment my eyes meet Simon's. It is a way to bring me back to reality, specially because I knew I couldn't bring myself to imagine all his perfection and imperfections.

It is also strange that I don't think about it a lot, perhaps my mind just wants to forget it ever happened. It is almost as if I blacked out the whole time because I couldn't bring myself to remember the details of the events, everything looked so blurry now. The only thing I couldn't forget was the feeling of being locked up in that room.

"Lieutenant" I heard someone say behind me.

"Captain Cage" I let out in surprise when I found him standing right behind me. My hands instantly fetched for the stop button. "In what can I help you?" I asked as I climbed down the treadmill.

"I was just preparing myself to practice a little bit before an...important mission that has presented itself for my division. Care to join me for a short practice? I've heard you're quite good at it" he said, his eyes judgingly trailing through my body.

"Captain, I rather no-"

"Oh, come on Lieutenant" he interrupted me "Help out a fellow soldier here. I'm sure it wont take you more than a minute"

I was still hesitant, but I noticed he was not going to take a 'no' for an answer. His dark-blue eyes were full with determination. I quickly glanced around, noticing no-one else was there with us. He wasn't giving me much of a choice either way, so I nodded once in agreement while entering the fighting area.

I watched as he twisted his lips in a smirk before following me inside. I didn't feel ready to fight yet. I haven't finished recovering, but he was a captain and I was a lieutenant.

The fight took pace quickly, too quickly for my liking. His fists were so violent against me that dogging them became a necessity. I began to feel this was no ordinary 'practice routine' when one of his fists met my flesh. I had to stop this fight. My body wasn't in condition for this yet, but before I could do anything, he twisted my arm painfully on my back and formed a half devilish smile when I cry out in pain. "how disappointing" he said. "I expected much more from you"

I see whats going on now. He is comparing himself to me. Fine, let's see if you can keep up then.

I flipped around to unravel my arm and then grabbed his arm to climb up his torso, wrapping my legs around his neck so I could throw him to onto the ground along with me, feeling the impact of his body against the ground in my legs.

"This 'practice' is over, Captain" I threatened as I tightened my legs around his neck. "Surrender and I'll set you free" I said as I kept tightening my legs. He began hitting my legs with his arms in order to break free, but he let out a desperate gasp for air combined with a shout of surrender when he realized there was no escape from them.

I loosened my legs around him, and as soon as I did, he quickly freed himself of them and crawled away from me with a hastened shallow breathing.

"It was fun. Let me know when you feel like practicing again, Captain" I said as my heart beat wildly under my chest and got out of the building as calmly as I could. I didn't feel emotionally stable to deal with this yet. My hands were shaking in a odd response to what had happen and I couldn't bring myself to ease them. I also felt a rush coming from my stomach. At first I thought it was the adrenaline wearing off, that might have explained my trembling hands, but before I knew it I was already throwing up in the pavement.

"Oh, come on now" I mumbled as I cleaned my mouth with my arm. I quickly composed myself and headed straight for the infirmary. Whatever I had was ending now. I asked the nurse for a blood test and warned her than a few results may show up higher than usual, but that it was completely normal and gave her a few excuses to 'support' those reasons. I also ordered her to have the results be delivered to me personally.

After that, I went straight to a near by town and fetched myself some nice clothes. I came across a fine and delicate blue dress. I thought it would feel nice to show my feminine side at least once, even if it showed my bruised legs.

And just as any woman, of course that it took more than one mere hour for me to find the perfect dress. By the time I was heading back to the base it was already night and I knew I was running late. I asked the shop owner if I could leave with the dress and shoes on, with thankfully she replied that I could. I couldn't avoid to notice that she kept staring at my face the whole time and by the looks of it, it seems it hasn't got any better.

I tapped my finger nervously against the wheel as I briefly glanced at the digital watch. It was 8:00 p.m. now and I knew were waiting for me. Just as I was thinking of them, my phone rang while I stopped at an intersection when the light turned red. I answered it and immediately placed it on my legs with the speaker on.

"Hello?" I answered as the light changed again, letting me continue my way to the base.

"Where the hell are you?" I heard Simon's voice. "We're leaving"

"I'll meet you there. I had to do some errands" I lied.

"Do you even know where it is we're going?" he asked.

"It won't be hard to find with you" I answered with a smirk. "Don't worry, we might even arrive at the same time"

"Alright, see you there. She'll -" I heard him say before he hung up, evidently telling the others I will join them at the pub. I could drive more calmly now that I knew they weren't waiting for me. My hand then fetched for the radio as my eyes kept staring at the road, finally finding the button to turn it on.

"I'm not calling you a liar, just don't lie to me..." The music began, making me start hitting my thumb against the wheel with the rhythm of the song. "I'm not calling you a thief, just don't steal from me. I'm not calling you a ghost, just stop haunting me..."

My lips tugged up in a smile. "It seems you're everywhere, Ghost" I mumbled.

"There's a ghost in my lungs and it sighs in my sleep. Wraps itself around my tongue as it softly speaks" I tightened my hand around the wheel, pressing the pedal a little bit further in response when I felt an urge to see him. I haven't seen since the meeting, and that was in the morning.

I reached the little town where the pub was going to be and just when I began to scout the place, I saw a Humvee driving the opposite direction. I followed it through my rear-view mirror and saw it pull over near a pub.

"It must be them" I muttered as I stopped the car to turn it around the other way and headed their direction. Just as I approached it, I saw the guys getting out the car, confirming it was actually them and not some random dudes. My heart flickered so nervously under my chest it was ridiculous.

"There but for the grace of God go I. And when you kiss me, I am happy enough t-" I turned off the radio just before pulling over near them.

"Is that her?" I heard Price's voice say as I removed the key. "Come on, just get out of the car" I muttered to myself as my trembling hand reached for the door. The cold air didn't welcome my so 'uncovered' and warm body, making me instantly regret my decision about bringing a damn dress.

"Oh, bugger! Isn't this a surprise?" said Price as I walked towards them, trying my hardest to not make eye contact with Simon just yet. It was so weird seeing them in civil. Price was wearing blue jeans with a dark brown jacket. My eyes then traveled to Mactavish who was just closing the driver's door. He was also using blue jeans, but he was wearing a loose white sweater. He looked at me from head to toe before forming a smirk on his lips.

"Be quiet about it" I said with a half smile in response. I was finally surrendering my eyes to Simon when Price wrapped his arm around my shoulder, forbidding me to see him at all. "He's too old for you darling" he teased with a smirk, tugging me inside the pub with his arm.

"Aren't you a cheeky bastard?" I heard Simon grumble behind us.

"Oh come on now, Ghost is not that old" I replied as Price opened the door for us.

"If you think being 36 is not that old..." Mactavish joked with an audible mocking smile and I lifted my brows in surprise, making price laugh at my reaction. I knew Simon had to be old, but I thought he was much younger than that. Maybe 29 years old.

"Yes, darling, you are dating an old fella" Price chuckled.

"are you going to take the piss outta me all night, old man?" Simon scoffed, making Price responded with a loud laugh. The place was almost empty, just a few other soldiers who were hanging out just like us.

This day felt different. It felt good and out of place at the same time. I watched them as the laughed and chattered about things, previous experiences they all shared and I just smiled at the sight of them being so...united. MacTavish was right, I've been so busy taking care of the mission that I forgot what was like to share time like this.

"are you alright?" Simon asked quietly as the other two chattered. My eyes instantly met his blue ones and watched him as he expected for my answer.

"yes" I answered, forming a light smile in my lips, to which he replied by returning it to me. "I'm going for the bathroom, be right back" I continued as I stood up. I went straight for the mirror and examined my face before washing it up. I observed my reflection again as droplets of water slid down my face. Well, at least the purple bruises matched the color of my dress...

"It's none of my business" said a woman beside me as she washed her hands. "But If I were you, I would leave the bastard" she said as she flickered the water out of her hands before heading out of the bathroom. I blinked twice in confusion before looking at myself in the mirror once more and letting out quiet chuckle when I understood what she meant.

I walked back to the pub and headed straight for the bar when I felt my tongue asking desperately for water. I turned my head to the group just in time to see Simon standing up and heading towards me. He looked to handsome. He was wearing this... beautiful gray sweater with dark jeans, and I don't know if it was the light or what was, but his eyes seemed to be brighter than other days.

"What are you smiling about?" He asked as he leaned against the counter, folding both of his arms over the polished wood as he signaled the bartender for another cup. I tugged my lips up in a smile before leaning towards him to plant a soft kiss on his lips, tasting the whiskey that still remained in them. "I've been wanting to do that all day" I said in a low voice as I leaned back to my previous position.

He formed a mischievous smile as the bartender slid the glass of whiskey into his hand. He then came closer to me and stopped just right beside my ear. "and you've got no idea of the things I've been wanting to do to you all day" he said with a deep and seductively voice before tilting his glass up to me and walking back to the table, leaving me stupefied and immovable as he walked away.

"Lady" I heard the bartender say, making me snap my attention back to him. "Your glass of water"

I glanced down at my hand and noticed it was just beside my slender fingers. I moved my fingers to surround the glass and held it tightly as I lifted it from the counter. "Thank you" I said with a smile before returning to the table. Incredibly the pub got crowded as the night went by, so we had to raise our voices a little bit to understand each other, competing against the noise of other people's conversations. I found myself talking with MacTavish at one point in the night as the other two Brits discussed about a football game between Manchester and Arsenal.

"How have you been feeling?" he asked as he took a sip of his whiskey.

"Much better" I replied as my fingertips gently pressed the bruises in my arm.

"You know, it was quite a surprise when we got the heads up you were joining the task force. A woman? must of us said. We knew it had to be Macmillan. Shepherd would never allow it"he said, driving my attention completely to him. He leaned forward to his glass and supported both of his elbows on the table. "Ghost wasn't convinced at first, you know? He was a real prat about it. He said he couldn't work with a 'bloody woman', bloody dickhead. Look at that bastard now" he said quietly before taking a sip of his glass again. I briefly glanced at Simon as he and price continued to argue which team was better.

"That behavior got him in the same room with you, you know? we had plenty of rooms left, but he earned the ticket." he continued with a slight smile as his thumb slid through the glass. I tugged the corner of my lips in a half smile in response. "unbelievable" I replied with a smirk.

He tugged his brows up and he tug another sip of whiskey. "Anyway" he continued "the day you were to arrive he had a miraculous 'change of heart', that was - of course - after having a word with Macmillan over the phone. I don't know what he told him, but it sure worked to ease that bugger"

"Why do men make so much noise about a woman joining up? is it really that strange?" I asked.

"Not only is it strange, but it is forbidden, darling" he replied, making a frown form in my face. "And it has nothing to do if women are weaker than men or any of that rubbish. The problem is not you, is us." he continued. "When we are behind enemy lines, fighting in combat and exposed to danger, our minds need to be solely focused on the task at hand...survival of the team and destruction of the enemy. That's that. If we become physically attracted or emotionally attached to you, it causes big problems. Take Ghost, for example" he said, making my eyes instantly meet him at the other side of the table. My eyes trailed his beautiful features. how his eyes wrinkled at something price had said, and how his blue eyes briefly met mine's. "If he sees that you are under fire, or injured, he will do something stupid and risk not only his own life, but the life of anyone to protect you. It's a natural reaction, I'll give him that. Any of us would do anything to save you. You already experienced it with Price. It's just natural."

I nodded in understanding as my eyes trailed back to him. "I'm not against you joining up. I'm glad Macmillan made that decision. I think we wouldn't have got this far without you"

"No, but you're right. Funny I haven't thought of it that way, It totally makes sense." I replied quietly. I genuinely thought the main reason was because they thought of us the 'weaker' gender, never for a emotional response from their behalf. I suddenly felt like my presence here was a big mistake.

"Don't think about it a lot. You're already here and we are finishing this, together. Besides, you've prove them wrong, isn't that what counts?"

I opened my mouth to answer him, but before I could, Price had already locked me up with a question. "Manchester or Arsenal?" he said. Their discussion about the football thing had obviously gotten out of hands.

"Arsenal, of course" I answered with a smirk.

"See? She's also a gunner!" he cried to Simon, who just kept shaking his head as his hand fetched for his glass. "I give up" he said before taking sip of it. I chuckled as I returned my glass to the table. "Join the dark side, Simon" jokingly said with a grin, which made him let out a gorgeous laughter.

As the hours passed, I couldn't help but feel a little bit anxious about the upcoming mission. I must have lost in thought because before I knew it, we were already returning to the base. I gave the Humvee keys to Simon, I didn't feel like driving at these hours.

"You are looking real beautiful tonight" he said as he briefly looked at me before returning his blue eyes to the road. I replied with a tender smile as I rested my head on the head-board while looking at him. My eyes admired his body as his hand fetched for the gear lever, then he moved his blue eyes to me once more, making me have a strange but pleasant reaction to it.

"pull over" I ordered.

"what happened?" he asked as he slowed down, his brows knitting in confusion.

"Just do it" I ordered again. He nodded and parked aside of the road, deviating towards a dirt track.

"What is it?" he asked again as he turned off the car. I instantly climbed up his lap and framed his hips between my legs. He chuckled from his throat when I crashed our lips with a heat unknown to me. I heard him pulling the hand break before trailing his roaming hands through my thighs and for the first time, he left a burning mark in my skin with his teeth. I let out a groan as my fingers clenched in the shoulder of the seat, trying to endure the pain it has caused me.

I pressed my lips furiously against him again, but just when I was moving up to adjust my position, I bumped my head hardily against the ceiling of the car.

"Ouch!" I cried as I immediately placed a hand in my head.

"You alright?" Simon asked, unsuccessfully trying to hold back a laugh.

I opened my mouth in disbelief before slapping him in the shoulder. "Stop laughing!" I grumbled as a smile inevitably formed in my lips. His shoulders kept moving in response of the laughs as he buried his face in my chest.

"You're an evil person, Simon" I said with a smile as I climbed down his lap. "Just drive back to the base" I added, trying hardily to make the embarrassment not take over me and I just folded my arms over my chest.

He laughed loudly as he placed the hand break in its previous position and started the engine again to return to the road.


	20. Chapter 20

My muscles ached with each shot my sniper made. I've been practicing for hours now and I've never felt more unprepared in my life. I'm frightened something will go wrong, not to mention I haven't been sleeping very well this last few days.

Nevertheless, this was a recon and the chances of actually finding Makarov were very slim. The mere idea of having to engage in a fight seemed absurd and unnecessary. If everything went according to plan, then we would be back before they even notice. The marvelous thing about this was that now we would be able to anticipate Makarov's moves. We would know his exact position and exterminate him without having any casualties.

I sometimes wish we could be in every safehouse at the same time. We could surround him cleverly, not aggressively; with the right planning and the perfect timing we could win the war and that would be the end of that. But we needed more time. We needed better preparation and more men. A thing hard to find these days. What is left, really?

"Care if I join you?" A voice asked, making me jump on my skin from the suddenness. I turned my head around to find Archer standing a few feet away from me, the brightness of the day making me wrinkle my eyes in response.

I replied by sliding over the dirt to give him enough space to lay beside me on the rug as I inspected the weapon he was carrying in his hands.

"A JNG-90" I acknowledged. "Are you going to be taking that one to the mission?"

"I was planning on it, yeah" he answered while proudly examining his weapon.

"Nice choice." I said whilst aiming through my scope at the remote target, watching the distant orange flag flicker in response to the wind. The distance between the target and myself was enormous, although 200 meters doesn't seem much if you compare it to what you would face out there in the field. The wind was on my favor, so the bullet's trajectory was going to be straight and fast. The problem though was gravity, but if the wind was as fast as I thought it was, then it wouldn't even bother.

The last time I used one of these I had just finished high school. I'll admit this one was my favorite and although I never did admit it to my father, I'm certain he didn't need to ask to notice my affection towards it.

I pointed right to its head before pulling the trigger, feeling the huge recoil under my arm. Feeling that kind of power could certainly become addictive. I even dare to say shooting one of these made me feel I was the right hand of god itself. But for my pride's misfortune, the shot did not land on its head like I wanted, but pierced through its chest instead.

"Goddamn" I muttered in annoyance while pulling the bolt handle to reload the barrel.

Archer chuckled while tilting his head towards the scope, making a few adjustments to it as he did. "Try placing the point where the two lines intercept just a little above its head, then move it one centimeter to the right" he suggested after a few seconds.

I immediately leaned towards my scope, placing the cross above its head to then move it exactly one centimeter to the right. I held my breath and pulled the trigger, feeling the powerful recoil under my arm once more. The bullet passed right beside its head, lading in the hill of dirt behind it.

"I think you miscalculated that one" I joked.

"A little bit to the left now" he mumbled, completely ignoring my previous gibe. I moved the cross a little bit to the right before holding my breath and shooting once again, and for my satisfaction, the bullet went right through its head, ripping it from the rest of its body.

"Well that's more like it!" I beamed in delight.

"A nice shot indeed" he acknowledged "maybe you should change places with Toad, you sure are better company than him."

"I thought you two were friends?" I questioned with a smirk on my face.

"Oh, do not misunderstand me, we are. It's just... he can be as stubborn as a cock sometimes. He's a little bit hurt about the fact that the captain chose me for the mission instead of him, but he brought it upon himself. His lack of humility and disdain."

"I had no idea" I replied amazement. "He doesn't strike me as a jackass"

"Hmm- he isn't a bad person, he's a good fella. He just doesn't take his job seriously sometimes"

"Maybe he is making up for something else..." I replied, shifting my position on the dirt so I could face him with less effort now that my neck was desperately asking for a rest. "I don't think killing people is a good way to maintain anyone's sanity in line. Perhaps his humor, or 'lack of humility' as you put it, is a way to masquerade his perturbed mind."

"I haven't thought of it like that..." he admitted after a few seconds of silence, dipping his head in obvious remorse. "Perhaps you are right"

I shrugged. "It is just a thought. But he mustn't despair, I'm sure this will be the most boring mission we have ever had. I seriously doubt we are going to be lucky enough to find Makarov there"

He seemed lost in thought until my last word caught his attention, immediately meeting my gaze. "Let's just hope we are lucky enough **not** to. Haven't you thought what would happen if we happen to indeed find him there?"

"All the time actually..."I replied with a sigh and pulled the bolt handle to reload the sniper once more. "But if we can end it there, would we really risk not to? Killing him could mean the end of war. Plus, we have the element of surprise on our side. He will never expect it."

"What I've learned over the years is that only the good die young, lass." he said in return. "And if we do get to kill him, who can assure us that no one worse is going to take his place? This war won't end with Makarov's death, we'll just postpone it until someone else continues what he left, just as he did with Zakhaev" He let out a deep sigh, as if he was exhausted from all this, from war.

"We all dream of a word of sunshine, happiness, and peace. The problem is, darling, that while half of the people think it sounds like a wonderful place to live, the other half thinks it sounds like a wonderful place to pillage" he added.

I remained in silence for a few seconds, just processing. I wanted to say something, anything to show him that wasn't how things were, but sadly, nothing came into my mind. I found nothing but truth in his words, and nothing to belie them. "I don't know what say" I replied genuinely.

"I was not expecting you to" was his response before bending down on his sniper and blowing half the target's body. I looked at him as he pulled the bold handle to reload his weapon, immediately firing at the next target. I found myself unable to say anything else, so I just leaned down my head and rested my eye in front of the scope, instantly feeling the strong recoil under my arm.

* * *

Just one hour was left now. The sickening sound of people walking everywhere making sure we had everything we needed for our three day mission made me want to throw up from anxiety. I could hear them loading things up to the C-5 aircraft that would deploy us.

The night was colder than other nights and the anticipation was almost palpable. I was leaning against a wall, my eyes completely lost in the cement under my feet. Archer's words repeated in my head over and over again like a broken record. I even found myself sharing his wishes, I hoped with all my heart not finding him. Not a trace.

A pair of black combat boots stopped right in front of me, making me snap my eyes up to its bearer. Ghost was holding his Mk 14 in his hand, looking at me as if I was about to say something. He then pulled down his mask and just when he was about to speak, the Captain appeared from our side, running at us with great urgency.

"Captain, what is it?" I asked with concern.

"Shepherd is calling us for a meeting. Price is already there, but he also wants you both." he answered with haste.

My eyes and Simon's met in a flash before we both started to move towards the briefing quarters, the Captain rapidly hastening his pace to catch up with us. "What's going on?" Simon asked with a dead serious tone.

"I don't know, but whatever Shepherd has to say must be important" was his reply just before entering the meeting room. When we got in, there were no formalities, no introductions. Just a brief glance from Shepherd before getting straight into business.

"It has been a tough week, gentleman" he began, his arms placed firmly behind his back. "We've lost more than we'll ever dream, but we will recover." He turned around and a projection of a satellite image appeared in the massive screen in front of us. "I've got a blank check and we are going to use every cent of it killing Makarov"

My eyes and Price's met for a brief second before shepherd's voice called for my attention again. "Despite what the world may say, we are not savages; We don't kill civilians, we use precision. We are going to take Makarov and we are going to bring him into the light. We will write history, gentleman"

Sharing the same room with Shepherd made me think about Wheathley. I couldn't see Shepherd with the same eyes I once did. Knowing that he had taken over our lab to hasten the results was prove enough that he was not happy with me. Perhaps I didn't keep up to his expectations. My eyes jumped back to the wall when three locations's popped into the map.

"These are the last safe havens on earth left for Makarov and his men" The first two locations I recognized instantly. One in Afghanistan and one in the Caucasus mountains in the Georgian-Russian border, just like my Intel had proven. But the last one did not comport with either of my two locations. Instead, it showed Iraq as the final safehouse.

I opened my mouth in confusion, and for my regret, Shepherd noticed almost immediately. "Is something wrong, Lieutenant?" he asked. Everyone in the room turned their heads to me, leaving into obvious evidence I had their complete attention.

"Nothing, sir. It's just...The Intel I retrieved from the house they held me specified there were four safehouses, not three. The first two concur with my Intel, but then Iraq... My Intel showed the two others were in-"

"in Ukraine, Yes. Unfortunately, Lieutenant, your Intel was outdated. We've cleared those two locations and found nothing but remains of what once was. Both of them were abandoned"

"Abandoned?" I knit my brows in confusion.

"What matters here, Lieutenant." his displeasure towards me was more than evident now. "Is that we got three places, and we are going to clean them up"

"Sounds like we gotta be in three places at once" Price commented.

"Impossible?" Shepherd questioned with a hint of disdain.

"Not for the One-Four-One" was Price's determined reply.

"Lieutenant Rivera, I want you to work with Captain Cage with his team for this mission" he ordered and my shoulders fell in utter startle. My eyes impulsively went directly to Simon. This was the most important mission of our lives, and he was separating us...

"Is there a problem, Lieutenant?" he asked with raw bitterness. It took me five seconds to strangle my aggrieved feelings and let the responsibility take over. This is why I was here after all.

"None, sir. I will meet up with Captain Cage for coordination" I replied. My eyes then met with Simon's once more, finding him doing exactly the same. I could see in his eyes he was just as conflicted as I was.

"If there is a problem, please do share" Shepherd continued when he noticed our exchange of glances.

"There is no problem, sir" Simon answered. "Captain Price, Permission to take the safehouse with Roach"

"Granted. Soap and I will take the boneyard in Afghanistan"

"Very well. We will cut all avenues of escape. This ends now." Shepherd said before heading towards the exit. It seems he was more eager to kill Makarov than anything else. Something will definitely go wrong. This is too rushed. Too desperate. This is not the way.

Ghost and I stared at each other as the others walked right pass us to the exit. I briefly glanced at Price as he closed the door behind him while giving me a nod as if understanding we needed to be alone.

The room went silent. Just the air conditioner could be heard. Simon pulled his mask off and threw it to the table, but he didn't look at me after that. There was nothing to be said. Neither of us could disobey our orders, that was a fact. All we could do was just...hope for the best. So I just walked towards him and wrapped my arms around his chest, feeling him surround me with his arms.

"Everything's gonna be alright" he whispered.

* * *

I read and re-read the lines of the red thin book in my hands. The words had been so right and powerful I felt the need to carve them in my memory. They confirmed striking everywhere at the same time wasn't a good idea. We should wait for the right moment.

'Such is the art of warfare'

"What are you readin'?" Simon asked as he got into the room, immediately closing the door behind him and leaving some documents on the desk before approaching me. I directed a quick glance at him to then return my eyes to my book.

"When you surround an enemy, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too hard." I began, briefly glancing at Simon as he sat near my stretched-out legs. I haven't even bothered to take the boots off knowing that we would depart soon enough. Besides, I was too stressed to even think about resting. "It is vital to judge when the spirit of desperation sets-in in a mortally harassed enemy. It is the time to expect reckless, irrational and suicidal behavior. It is vital to make him believe that there does exist an escape rout to safety, which will prevent his fighting in sheer desperation. **Such is the art of warfare** **.** " With a stressed sigh, I closed the book between my fingers. A few seconds passed before Simon shifted his position to be closer to me.

"What's bothering you?" he asked softly.

I shook my head while shrugging my shoulders in response. "I just...I've got a bad feeling about this. We shouldn't strike everywhere at once. We shouldn't burst in either. We should wait for the right moment, not force our victory"

"And what makes you think this isn't the right moment?" he asked tenderly.

"I don't know" I replied like a pathetic whisper. He gestured me to come closer to him and I bent towards him, resting my head in his shoulder. "why did he separate us?" I asked quietly.

My debriefing with Captain Cage had been the most awkward of conversations. Though, we acted like nothing had ever happened, all for the sake of appearances that is.

"Maybe he just wants you as an insurance that everything will turn out as it should. The whole One-Four-One is getting split for this. We are the insurance that everything will go as planned. After all.." He said as he opened a space between us so our eyes could meet again. "We're the best of the best" He finished with a smirk as he tapped my nose.

I smiled poorly before returning my head to his shoulder, feeling him press his lips on my forehead. "You're right..."

* * *

My head went up and down with each breathing Simon made. He wasn't asleep. I didn't need to see his face to notice, his rapid heart beatings was enough proof. I guess I wasn't the only one who felt anxious about today. A soft knock on the door made me move my eyes towards it, but I didn't even attempt to move. I did not want to move.

"If you are going to have breakfast, now is the time" Mactavish said from the other side before listening his footsteps walk away from the door, disappearing in the distance. I peeked at the clock, noticing it was six in the morning. I moved my head up to glance at Simon, who kept stroking my hair with his slender fingers. I slid up through his chest and softly met his lips. If I could stay here forever, like this, I would. The world could crumble down and I wouldn't care.

After a few minutes, we finally parted for the need of air. "I love you" I whispered. Simon smiled as he caressed my face with his hand. "I love you too"

We gave each other a silent smile before I moved out of bed, allowing him to stand up after me and we headed out towards the cafeteria. I felt anxious, terribly uneasy. Like when it is the first day of school or your first job interview. That uncomfortable sharp feeling piercing through my chest.

Some thin orange rays of light were starting to settle in the distance, slightly bathing the base. The morning was quite eerie. Just the sound of our footsteps filled the air, and my hair danced gently against the soft breeze of dawn.

I watched Simon as he walked in front of me. It reminded me of the fist time we met, when he showed me around. So much has changed since then...

Fetching for food suddenly became a difficult task to do, and if it weren't for Price's showy hat, finding a seat would have taken ages. The whole team was reunited in the same table. All from Sergeants to Captains. And all the soldiers who were going to be deployed this day were all around the cafeteria.

I glanced down at my oatmeal's plate, feeling my stomach spin at its smell. With this much anxiety I was sure I would throw up whatever went down my throat.

I briefly met Thomas' glance before he diverted his eyes back to his plate. With a sigh, I moved my hand to grab my spoon, and that's when I noticed how my hand quivered uncontrollably. I tried to ease it, I wanted to ease it, but I couldn't. It was as if it had a mind of its own.

I swallowed hard and grabbed the spoon anyways, believing that having something to grip on would ease it, but only managed to make it more noticeable. I slowly placed the spoon back and clenched my hand, boldly lifting my eyes to Mactavish. He was watching my hand with grieving eyes. I slowly retreated my hands to my legs and mouthed to him I was sorry. He just shook his head, letting me know I did not need to apologize.

I wasn't scared. I was terrified. I couldn't bare the idea of not knowing was was happening to them while I was in Iraq. Without me there, no-one could guarantee me their safety. I wanted to be with them. I wanted to make sure they were okay. The fear of losing them was torturing my soul.

A hand suddenly slid through my back, finding a resting place in my other shoulder. "How about a drink after this ends?" Price asked with a smile, making me form a grin in response. I thank God Simon didn't notice my shivering hands in time. By the time he turned to look at me, I was already smiling at Price's offer and my hands had found their ease between my legs.

A group of Soldiers suddenly got in the cafeteria, and they seemed to be very disturbed discussing about something. One of them approached the old TV that was hanging from one of the columns of the cafeteria and turned it on.

"What's going on?" Mactavish asked to one of the soldiers.

"There has been a shooting. At least 30 casualties" He replied before joining the murmuring group that was waiting for the news channel. I took the spoon into my hand again now that I could hold a steady grip on it and sank it in the hot oatmeal, immediately raising it to blow the heat away with my mouth.

"The researchers are still investigating the reasons behind the murder-suicide that took place in a high level security research facility in Nottingham" The news reported said and my eyes widened in shock. I dropped the spoon into the plate, splattering the oatmeal all over the place.

"Angelica, are you alright?" Simon asked in concern as I stumbled my way out of the table and immediately rushed towards the television.

My eyes instantly landed on the description bellow the news. 'lone gunner kills 15 co-workers and several patients then suicides in a high security laboratory'

My eyes scanned the aerial images of the research facility, of **our** research facility, hoping with all my heart Wheathley wasn't one of the victims. But everything stumbled down when the man behind the murder-suicide was revealed, and my shivering hand instantly covered my mouth. "The man behind this massacre was Dr. Gregor Wheathley..."


	21. Chapter 21

My palms were against my forehead and my arms supported against my knees. Everything felt so unreal, yet everything around me went as if nothing had happened. The soldiers kept loading things up to the C-17, laughing and talking as they climbed up their planes while my world was crumbling into pieces.

I wished I could be as ignorant as they seemed to be. Just thinking about the incident had me completely derailed. I knew there must exist a logical explanation, and I tried very hard into finding any, but I just...couldn't. None of this had any sense.

The news were quick to reveal his schizophrenic condition and blame it on that. But I knew very well that wasn't it. That is never it.

I felt I had failed him in every way; as a partner, as a colleague, as a friend... My mind tortures me thinking I should've known something was not right. That I should've noticed something was different. I've been so distracted with war and all that comes along with it that I completely abandoned him. And even though he joked about enjoying my absence, I knew it wasn't exactly like that.

The scratching sound of someone stopping in front of me disturbed my thoughts, but I didn't need to lift my head to know to whom it belonged. Since the moment the shocking news was revealed, I had to step away. I couldn't deal with anything, I had to be isolated and be left alone with just my torturing thoughts for a while. I just...couldn't understand.

I suddenly felt our lives were now determined on which one of us was going to die first. I wished with all my strength that someone else was here instead of me. I masochistically fantasized with the idea of me still working at the lab.

The only thing that made me curse myself for even thinking about it was the fact that I met Simon thanks to it. I knew very well this was the only way for us to meet. But even by taking those things into account, I felt myself regretfully wishing it had never happen.

"I don't think Macmillan made the right decision by bringing me here" I muttered in a volume barely audible for any human being. "I couldn't even keep my friend alive"

I heard him sigh and I just closed my eyes, waiting for a deserving scold. I felt the back of the bench move as he climbed up on top of it to sit beside me.

"I wasn't convinced very much when you first joined, even by knowing you were...you know, different. I sincerely thought you were not qualified for this and that Macmillan had gone mad by even thinking of you as a choice, but...Back in the S.A.S, when I used to train SEALS for the Americans, I noticed that those soldiers who were able to put up with the training had the same look in their eyes. Those who endured were those fighting for something else than themselves. Something... greater. Either by wanting to prove something, or protecting someone; all of them selfish actions, not just the mere satisfaction of passing a test and becoming a member of the renowned seals" He said. My eyes explored his face before moving to his hands as he played nervously with his fingers.

"I was...an arse with you on your first day not because I didn't like you beforehand. I was testing your strength as a person. Macmillan said you had the spirit to become a great soldier, that you had everything there just...waiting for someone to help you take it out"

"Ten minutes before departure!" a voice echoed throughout the whole base, making us both look towards its source. The anticipation was quick to spark in my stomach and anxiety appeared again like a forgotten lover. Ghost turned to me once more and lifted his sunglasses to uncover his light blue eyes.

"So, If you ask me, yeah... I think the old man made the greatest decision by letting you in" he continued, making me form a slight smile in my lips. "Don't lash yourself for what happened to him, or for whatever made him do it. I'm sure there must exist a reason for this, and I promise you I'll help you discover it when we get back. Alright?"

He stared deeply into my eyes as he waited for my answer. I formed a small and soft smile before nodding in agreement and sliding my hand towards him. "Thank you" I quietly replied. I saw how his lips tugged up in a smile before he stood up, still with my hand in his own, pulling me to stand up with him. I then erased the distance between us and wrapped my arms around him, feeling him do the same with me.

"Be careful, Simon" I muttered as I dug my fingers in his uniform. "Please, be careful"

He moved back just enough so our eyes could meet as he pulled down his mask to hold it below his chin. His light blue eyes explored my face as he moved his fingers to remove a strand of hair loose in my face. "Just wait for me. I'll wait for you" he whispered, soft steam escaping his mouth. He then leaned down towards me, placing his lips softly on top of mine's. My hand slid to his neck and held him right where I wanted him to be the rest of my life.

* * *

I couldn't say I felt comfortable with my 'new' team, but at least none of us were talking. Well, at least not to me. They were just... a dozen scared faces, except for Capt. Cage of course, he seemed more confident than confidence itself.

After the airplane dropped us on land, the walk towards the safehouse began and the anticipation grew stronger in the air. We were all in position, only Shepherd's order was needed to initiate the attack.

Some soldiers were taking cover behind trees and bushes, and some, me for example, scouting the place with snipers. I scouted all the top floor and disappointingly saw no signs of Makarov. My sight was just passing through the lower windows of the house when I noticed a group of soldiers heading outside the house.

"There is movement outside the house" I reported as I watched five to eight ultranationalist exit through the door. "What are you doing?" I murmured as I fixed my scope to clear the image. Three soldiers appeared into sight, the three of them being pushed out of the house by the ultranationalists themselves. My finger slowly slid to the trigger and rested on it. My eye then bounced from one side to another, counting the heads I would have to put down to save them.

"Captain Cage, are you seeing this?" I asked when I received no answer to my previous report, quickly glancing at my range finder, finding out I was about 300 meters away from them.

"I see them" He replied.

"Who are they?" A soldier asked.

"I don't know. I heard about a group of guys from another division going M.I.A. I think it might be them, or well, the ones who survived" was Cage's reply. My eyes jumped back to the soldiers who were dragged towards the front of the house, their hands tied behind their backs and their cries silenced with a dirty rag.

"Captain, what do we do?" I asked while a horrible feeling kept sending electric shocks through my body.

"Hold your fire, Lieutenant. We are not here for them" was his simple reply, making my jaw drop in utter astonishment.

"Sir?" I exclaimed in confusion. "Please don't tell me we are going to let them die for the possibility of finding one man?" I rambled in return. The moment we are willing to sacrifice the very lives we are 'fighting' to protect for the sake of a mission, you know the war has gone too far. I watched as the ultranationalists positioned the three soldiers under their fire range, making them kneel by kicking them in the legs.

"Orders are orders, Lieutenant" He answered with so much relaxation that I felt my blood boiling in anger at his cold reply.

'Fuck the orders' I spat to myself. My finger was ready to pull the trigger when the ultranationalists opened fire and the lifeless bodies of the soldiers immediately fell on the ground. I let out the air retained in my lungs as I closed my eyes while removing my finger from the trigger. I crawled back and sat against a tree, closing my eyes and bumping my head against it. I didn't like having that feeling of impotence haunting me. I had enough with Wheathley already.

All the comms went silent again. I felt suspended in time as the images of their execution repeated endlessly in my head. It is an... evolutive curse sometimes.

"Let's advance towards the house, Shepherd has authorized the attack. Remember, we are not taking hostages." Cage ordered and I opened my eyes in confusion. Just ten minutes of difference? I scoffed in pure rage before grabbing a bunch of dirt and leaves and throwing them to the air in anger.

"I'm moving out" I notified with a stiff voice.

"Remember, engage Makarov on sight" He commanded and the simple act of hearing his voice annoyed me to no end.

"I should engage you on sight" I muttered to myself as I advanced through the tree line.

Just when we were reaching the house, I stopped. Something wasn't right. Everything was quiet, too quiet. Suddenly one man screamed in the distance and at least a dozen ultranationalist appeared out of cover, starting the fight.

We all ran to cover ourselves with what we could before starting the crossfire. Advancing towards the house took a lot of effort, it took us at least half an hour to neutralize the ultranationalists outside. The sniper kept reporting he had not spotted Makarov as we moved to breach every entry to the house we could find and as soon as we breached in, the house cleaning began.

"Shepherd, this is Ghost. No sign of Makarov, I repeat, No sign of Makarov." he reported, and my heart found a comforting ease knowing that he was alright and the worst was over.

"We are still in housekeeping here, but there is no sign of him either. Captain Price, any luck in Afghanistan?" I asked as I climbed the stairs to the upper floor, signaling the other soldiers to start breaching the doors while Capt. Cage directed the breaching on the first floor.

"Plenty. At least fifty hired guns here, but no sign of Makarov. Perhaps our Intel was off" he answered and I couldn't help but form a mocking smile in return. 'Perhaps we should have done it as I suggested on the first place' I thought.

"Well, the quality of the Intel's about to change. This safehouse is a bloody gold mine" Ghost reported next.

"Sadly we don't share your luck, Ghost. This safehouse is empty" I announced as I entered the last upper room we cleared. Gesturing the others to clear out the room.

"Copy that. Ghost, have your team collect everything you can for an operations playbook. Names, contacts, places, everything." Shepherd ordered.

"We are already on it, sir. Makarov will have nowhere to run" he answered, and I found myself smirking at his undeniable lack of humility.

"That's the idea. I'm bringing up the extraction force, E.T.A in five minutes. Get that Intel. Shepherd out" was his last report before everything went quiet again. I turned towards the exit and saw Capt. Cage walking in with two rifles on each hand.

"Captain?" I frowned.

He just stared at me for a few seconds before handling a rifle to me. "We need to hold the house until the extraction team arrives" he said. "Pick a window. I'm sure they'll be here in any minute now" he added before walking towards a window on the right side of the room. I gave him one ignored nod before turning around and heading for the opposite window to guard the other half of the house.

'The faster we finish here, the faster we can go home' I repeated in my head as I readied myself for the enemy. It wasn't long until the helicopters appeared in the distance, deploying a dozen of ultranationalists each. I drew an imaginary line through the forest, setting it as the limit they would be permitted to advance.

"Task Force, this is Price. More Makarov's men just arrived at the boneyard. Soap, Cover me. I'm gonna slot that guy over there and use his radio to tap into their comms. Lieutenants, we are going silent for a few minutes. Good luck. Price out." I heard him say as I fired my rifle, putting to sleep every ultranationalist that came near the line.

The shooting felt endless. I didn't even had time to reload properly, so I had to switch weapons everytime I didn't have a breathing. The other soldiers were holding the house from the lower level, so we had the whole house secured. The ones who managed to escape our limits were quickly neutralized by the other members of the team.

"How much until the extraction team arrives?!" I shouted my question to Capt. Cage, stopping for a brief second to reload my weapon before resuming the shooting.

"Twenty minutes!" he shouted back. .

"Ghost! Come in Ghost! Wildfire!" Price's loud voice unexpectedly rang in my ear, making my heart spark in anguish and stopping my shooting, allowing a couple hostiles to escape the thin line I had drawn for them and heading towards the house.

The following comms were not clear enough for the shootings in the background. I pressed my earpiece in an attempt to make out what they were saying, but just felt my anguish strengthening with each second I couldn't understand him.

"Do not trust Shepherd! I repeat, do not trust Shepherd!" he warned in shouts clear enough for me to understand, too clear to ignore.

I felt a cold electric shock run throughout my body, and I instantly turned around to warn , but what I found next was something I should have expected, something that I should have foreseen.

"What a great day isn't it?" He smirked, his gun right in front of my face.

* * *

I remained still while Cage moved towards the door, shutting it close with his leg and sealing us inside. He then flickered his gun, ordering me to move away from the window and step further into the room.

The shooting continued its course outside. Cage then came closer to me, still pointing at me with his gun as he took away my weapon, knife and gun, throwing them away from my reach.

I still examined him very carefully as he stepped back. I wanted to believe I could take him out, but given our current state, I was afraid that wasn't going to be possible.

Surprisingly, he placed the safety back on his gun and lowered his arm while forming a sick smile on his face. I tried to resist my urge to frown, but I'm sure my confusion didn't go unnoticed. He then removed the magazine from the gun and placed it on top of the table.

"I've been wanting to do this since our last meeting" he revealed as he placed the empty gun on the table. "But not like this. Pulling a trigger is way too easy" he added while turning around to face me once more. "There is no emotion in it. But this?" He continued whilst showing me his hands while walking towards me. "This is real"

And before I could even say anything, he launched a strike at me. I did my best to block everything he charged at me, but I was failing. Something changed, something is different. This was not the same Captain I fought the other day. He was more aggressive, more lethal.

He managed to hit my ribs with a great strength more than once, and it felt like he succeed into breaking one or two. I kicked him away to the table, letting out a loud grunt and shrinking from the raw pain that was coming from my ribs.

He was onto me in to time. All I managed by pushing him was hurting myself even further. I continued to block his attacks, specially the one's directed to my chest cage. I'm more than sure that he figured all he need is to collapse my lungs.

After several tries, I successfully grabbed his arm and thew him to the ground, letting out a strong shriek of pain. He stood up faster than I expected and charged towards me, crashing me against the wall to then launch several kicks to my ribs, but thankfully, I successfully managed to stop them with my hands.

I grabbed his torso and ran the opposite direction, throwing us both onto the ground. I was about to start throwing everything I had at him when he pushed me away with his legs and my back collided against the floor. I groaned from the growing pain in my ribs and crawled to stand up again. He then grabbed me and crashed me against the wall once more. I hit him with my elbows to then kick him on his stomach before grabbing him and pushing him against the same wall, but he took advantage of the momentum and threw my against a window, making me break into the glass. I screamed in pain as some of the broken pieces pierced into my abdomen, tinting the frame and some loose pieces of glass with my blood.

I glanced down to see the large pieces buried in my diaphragm and then noticed a sharp large piece of glass still intact from the hit. I wrapped my trembling hand around it and put pressure until I managed to break it and immediately hid it near my stomach.

"You know, I have to admit Dr. Wheathley had some balls when he decided to wipe out the program in order to stop what we wanted to do" I heard him say as I heard the cracks from the glasses in the ground, letting me know he was approaching me.

My heart ached at the memory of Wheathley, even more now that the reason of his death was revealed. A soft whimpering escaped my lips, and I held my urge to cry and scream all at once. A loud crack came from behind me, notifying me he was standing right behind me. I pulled out from the glass and slashed the glass against him, managing just to cut his uniform. I then tried to dig the glass in his chest, but he was quick to dodge it and grabbed my bleeding hand to hold prevent any other attack. I squeezed his neck with my right hand, pushing him backwards before moving my leg behind his knee and making him crash harshly against the floor.

I climbed on top of him as he continued holding my both hands to resist the glass that was just centimeters away from his neck. My hand was bleeding like a faucet as the glass cut deeper into my hand from the force. I felt my muscles in fire. They were quivering by fear, by rage, by fighting against his desire to live.

I hit my hand, stabbing my other hand in the process to force the way down of the knife. He soon pushed my hand back again, but I noticed a tiny part managed to get through.

I began to hit my hand again, hit after hit, feeling my other hand loosing sensitivity with each self-stab and I didn't stop until the glass had pierced all the way into his neck. His mouth gagged in his own blood. I stared at him, and didn't stop pushing the glass until I saw life slip out of his eyes.

Then my trembling and bleeding hand felt safe enough to release the glass, and I sat on his dead body. I was fighting arduously to not lose consciousness in the spot. I stared down at my uniform. I was loosing too much blood. At this rate I would be dead in less than an hour. I crawled towards my rifle, and held it tight in my leg to reload it with a new mag. Then placed a gun in my holster. I had to make the bullets count, because I wouldn't be able to reload anymore.

I stood up as I could and stumbled down the stairs, falling harshly on the remaining steps to finally land on the floor. I saw one of the soldiers turning around to aim at me, but I quickly fired at him immediately letting out a loud groan when the sharp pain in my ribs grew even stronger from the fall. With trembling hands and a painful gasp, I used the rifle to help me get on my feet again and stumbled towards the kitchen, holding my grip into everything I could and painting everything with blood as the others killed each other outside.

I needed to close the bleeding wounds in my stomach, and the only thing that crossed my mind was cauterization. So I searched for a lighter inside the drawers, but only found a box of matches. I placed it inside one of my pockets to then stumble towards the dead soldier and scavenge everything I could from him. I grabbed all his extra mags and placed them inside my molle backpack.

This was quickly turning into a battle royale and the necessity of getting out of there was now vital, so I just shot everyone I saw as I headed towards the woods, leaving a trace of blood behind of me, my own blood. I ran and ran into the woods until I couldn't run anymore and just crashed onto the ground.

"This is Wildfire. Does anyone copy?" I fought to say as I resisted the urge to faint from the blood loss. Everything was becoming blurry and the pain I once felt was beginning to fade. "Please...Please..."


	22. Chapter 22

"Whatever you do, don't fall sleep" I whispered as a numbing feeling started to spread through all my body, beginning from the tip of my fingers to my limbs. My eyes flamed with tiredness and I really resisted the urge to close them for good. I rolled over, letting out a sharp grunt only muffled by my teeth to then bury my tingling fingers in the ground. I pushed myself forward, feeling a piercing pain coming from the friction the ground was making against my injuries, doing my best into not translating it into a deafening scream.

I rolled over and pushed myself towards a trunk of a tree to then try to muffle my shallow breathing with my teeth.

"Come on, Think of something" My words were jumbled as I tried very hard to remain calm. I reached for my bag, taking out everything I had scavenged from the other soldiers with one arm as the other press on my injuries to prevent more blood loss. The first thing my hand felt was a canteen. So I was quick to get it out and poured everything I could into my mouth. Then, I lifted my arm from my torso and left the canteen on the floor.

With both hands I began to lift my uniform, revealing the pieces of glass that were still digging into my flesh. I held my shirt with my teeth, pouring some water over the injury with my free hand. I grunted between my teeth as all the dirt and blood washed towards the ground, letting me see the remnants of glass buried in my skin.

I grabbed the lighter I found earlier and pulled the knife from the holster in my leg. I placed the flame below the steel and waited a few seconds, just before the blade turned red, then extinguished the flame. I lifted the blade, and with shaky hands, approached it to my injuries. My breathing hastened when I felt the heat against my skin. I had to be quick.

My jaw tightened as my trembling hand removed the first piece, immediately muffling my screams with the cloth when the hot blade met my skin, and the smell of burnt meat plagued the air around me. My arm was quivering at the desire to rip it off, but it had to remain there for a few seconds more until the injury was closed. I recoiled the blade off my skin and instantly buried it violently on the ground, digging it multiple times as I curved from the now burning pain in my abdomen. I let out all the air in my lungs with a sharp gasp, feeling tears running down my cheeks. I bumped my head against the tree to fight the fatigue that was taking over me.

I reluctantly moved my eyes back to my stomach and noticed three to four more pieces to be removed. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh, trying not to flinch with the pain it provoked me. Removing all the pieces took time, not to mention I had to swallow all my screams. At the end I was exhausted, but alive and that's all that mattered to me.

I had two options now. Go to the nearest city that isn't controlled by the ultranationalists or any of its allies, find an embassy with a great chance of dying on the road and pray Shepherd is too busy to notice, having just a slight chance that any of those morons can take me straight to Macmillan. And of course, stay here and die. I couldn't lie, a part of me wanted the second.

I dragged the bag towards my body and pulled out a map, unfolding it as best as possible.

"Okay, focus. You are here..." I muttered as I placed my finger on the spot, accidentally painting it with my blood. My eyes then traveled to the nearest countries from my position, just to have a full glance of what my choices could be; Then the Georgia-Russian border then broke into sight. I felt a cold current running from my cheeks to my guts. My dirty and bloodied hand slid towards that point, and before I could do anything about it, I started weeping. My lips trembled and my hands also shook as I took them to my eyes.

"I'm sorry" I whimpered as I buried my face in my hands. Without being able to hold it any longer, I let out a tearing scream before collapsing into the ground, burring my face in the dirt while my cries flew freely through the air.

* * *

I couldn't tell how many hours had passed. I just stared at some far point with emptiness in my eyes. My arms were peacefully resting at each side of my legs, which were tangled with each other. I have nothing to go back to. If I go back, it would be only to decapitate shepherd myself. I felt how my tears were drying up against the cold wind. I lifted up my eyes and realized it was getting late. If I wanted to come up with a plan, now was the time.

I grabbed the map and unfolded anew. "Alright" I grabbed a branch from the ground and place it on the map. "From my position, my best choice is this little town that is not controlled by any terrorist group. I am...60.62 miles away from there, that's 160.69 km"

I laid back my head against the trunk and closed my eyes. "A person can walk 36 miles in a day... that's...57,94 km. I could double that...but with this injuries..I will probably go slower until I recover myself from the blood loss"

I let out a sigh before opening my eyes again. "That's at least a week of walking"

I dragged towards me the bag and made inventory. I had a semi-loaded gun, a knife, two canteens of which one was half empty, three energy bars, a lighter, and ammunition for a weapon I didn't have. I didn't have much, but it was better than nothing. I had to rationalize those three energy bars to make them last a week, and find water. The canteens were big, but not big enough to last a week. I need to replenish at least the half empty one, but finding a river wasn't going to be easy, less if I was going to take a mountain route...but, hope is the last thing you lose.

I grabbed all the ammo mags and left them on the ground before closing the bag and placing it on my back. I kept the knife the holster on my leg and the gun in my hand. "Alright..." I said, having a last glance to the sun to orientate my path. I moved my head at the direction I had to go, and fixed my bag as I took a deep breath. "Let's do this"


	23. Chapter 23

**[Archer's POV]**

I looked through my scope, scanning the place as I eliminated every target I could. We had found a goldmine of information and we weren't going to let it slip through our fingers. There were ten minutes left for the complete transfer, we were close.

"I have eyes on additional hostile forces moving in towards your position. They're approaching through the solar panels east of the house" I shouted, as I pulled back the handle of by sniper for a new reload.

"Copy that. Cover that area, Scarecrow!" Ghost ordered.

"I'm on it!" Scarecrow replied. Toad was half a mile away from me. We were covering the house from all angles. We were doing a good job containing the enemy, but I spotted more helicopters approaching, ready with the next deliver of at least a dozen soldiers each.

As I point towards the solar panel area, I helplessly watch Scarecrow falling off the second floor, through the balcony. "Fuck…" I whispered.

"Scarecrow is down! I repeat, Scarecrow is down! You have a large concentration of hostiles moving in from that area! They've just breached the perimeter! I'm trying to thin'em out before they get to you"

"Copy that, Archer" Roach replied.

Archer sees when scarecrow is down.

"The transfer is complete! Let's go! Archer, Toad, Cover us!" Ghost shouted as I spotted his figure exiting the house at all speed, Roach following his trail like lighting.

"Toad, clean the ones following them, I will clear their path, Over."

"Copy that. Wait…What is-" A crashing sound came out my earpiece, following the sound of someone sliding through leaves and branches.

"Toad? Toad come in, over! Toad!" I shouted through the direct line.

I risked Ghost and Roach for a quick glance towards his area, when a spotted tiny white light flashing from the distance. I open my eyes in shock, and before I can move I hear the loud shot. I dock my head and my body towards the dirt, missing the bullet by centimeters. I grabbed my weapon and started running. I reached for my earpiece, but found nothing in my ear. I glanced down and noticed my radio was no longer attached to my shoulder. It must have come off when I fell. I kept running, my legs burning as I ran up hill, still hearing the loud shots of the sniper trying to get me.

As soon as I made it I began to slide down the mountain again, spotting our helicopters lading on a clearing not too far away from me. I kept running that way, showering in relief when I spotted Ghost and Roach running towards what appeared to be Shepherd coming out of the carrier. Roach seemed to be injured, but none of that mattered, they were safe.

As I come closer, the most horrid scene happened in front of my eyes, making me kneel my feet in place.

"No!" Ghost screamed. I watched as Roach's body fell on the floor with Shepherd's gun still smoking. As Ghost was grabbing his gun to answer back, shepherd just turned his gun towards him and shot him. I fell on my knees, what was the meaning of this? Was shepherd…betraying us? But why? What was on that bloody Intel!?

I moved my head towards running steps coming from the top of the mountain. I quickly got up and kept running, never losing sight of what was happening to Ghost's and Roach's body. I kept running through the tree line, finally taking cover behind large rock, and immediately pointed my sniper towards the noises.

It was him; the sniper that killed Toad. Though, he was no longer searching for me. Instead, he kept running downhill towards shepherd. I kept following him with my scope, and I watched him as he talked to Shepherd, apparently delivering bad news. Shepherd angrily shouted at him and pointed towards Ghost and Roach's bodies.

Shepherd was so uncovered I could take him out right in this precise moment, but I couldn't pull the trigger. If somehow Roach or Ghost were still alive, I could save them... And that didn't include alerting everyone.

I grabbed my sniper and ran towards a more dense area, a place where I knew they couldn't spot me even with their best snipers. I sat on the dirt and pointed towards their direction. They were fueling the bodies, throwing gasoline over them. Roach appeared to move his head, but Ghost was not moving. My hands were shaking. My thoughts rushed towards Nightfire. A part of me hoped she was alive, but the other hoped she wasn't. I hoped she didn't have to bear with this.

Shepherd came closer to the bodies now, saying something to them as he smoked his thick cigarette. That meant that at least one of them was still alive. He then turned around, and threw his cigarette towards Roach body, setting him on fire. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, a muffled whimper escaping my mouth.

He flickered his hand and they all began to move towards their choppers again, taking off in a matter of seconds. They didn't even stay to check on the bodies…

As they began to take off, I ran downhill with all my strength, reaching the clearing. I kept running towards them, throwing my sniper when I was close enough from them. I stood right in front of them. Roach was completely burning; the smell of cooked meat was contaminating the air.

My eyes quickly moved to Ghost, he was burning on the side, taking his arm and spreading towards his face, but not by the action of gasoline. I quickly grabbed him by his feet and dragged him away from the flames, making him roll on the dirt to put out the flames. Then, I noticed something. His eyes flinched.

* * *

 **[Wildfire's POV]**

I slid my feet through the ground, filling the night air with the scratching sound of my boots against the pavement. I held myself with my hands with whatever I could. The small city was desolated, but I knew there was an embassy here...somewhere. It is sad to say my only chance of survival is to contact a man who may have also been responsible for all of this. Trying to think for a reason for Shepherd to betray us like this, a team he himself formed, was no longer relevant. This was the situation I was in.

I gave my final step as I collapsed against a street lamppost, I felt my knees getting weak as my sore and tired eyes watched the flag with the red cross. I was almost there, but I couldn't take another step. My mind dissolved right then and there, and I knew no more.


	24. Chapter 24

**[Archer POV]**

MacMillan couldn't believe the words I was telling him. I could see it in his eyes. I'm do not blame him, I could hardly believe it myself If it weren't for the fact that I lived through it. MacMillan sat and grabbed his head with his both hands.

"Where is Shepherd now, Captain?"

"He's unreacheable. He's located in a base in Afghanistan right now"

"We need to catch him. Whatever information stored in that hard drive was important enough to him to betray the entire team he formed. I'm starting to believe he was involved in some of the attacks. Why else wouldn't he want us to look inside unless he had something to hide?"

"I can't just go there and arrest him. We need solid proof."

"We are your solid proof! What else do you need?! Do you know how hard was for us to get here? He doesn't know we are alive, Macmillan. You have the advantage"

I glanced at Simon. He was conscious now thanks to God. one quarter of his face was burned as well as half his neck. He was seating on a chair, still with the Vowelysis conected to one of his arm to help with the pain. His eyes were not the same, not since he knew all strike points were compromised, including hers...

"Ok, this is what we're going to do..." Macmillan began.

* * *

 ***FIVE MONTHS LATER***

 **[Ghost POV]**

I had practically finished telling my story, and the clock was already reaching the number three. The children cried as they observed the clock at the end of the classroom, recalling that the terrorist had promised to kill one of them when the hour was up. It was not very comforting that the man who had come up to rescue them ended up tied to a chair. But that was never my job.

The soldiers were all gathered outside the school, but no one was taking action. At least that they know of.

"What the hell is going on?!" A man shouted as he burst inside the room. "The hour is already up, why aren't you ready? Do you want us to look like fools?!" The leader terrorist shouted the other two terrorists guarding the children.

"The army, they were up for negotiations, weren't they? Maybe we could-"

"No" The leader replied. "First we will fulfill our promises. Open the window and let's throw a body outside"

As the men talked I began to work my hands to loose the rope that tied them together. If I was waiting for a moment to break free, now was the time.

"Victor, think about it, if they were planning to attack us they would've done it by now." One of the terrorists said.

"Yeah" The other man continued. "They are waiting… What are they waiting for?"

"They were waiting for me, mate" I said as I stood up, pointing my gun to his face and pulling the trigger. In that moment, all the classroom's windrows broke, following my rappelling soldiers jumping inside the room.

"Duck to cover, kids!" I shouted as the soldiers shot the remaining two terrorist. Then, everything was over.

The children were being evacuated now. I grabbed a little girl with golden hair and carried her to the exit.

"Sir, What happened to the bad man?" the little one asked.

"The bad man got caught and an unnecessary extension of the war was prevented thanks to that. Our forces are still fighting, but there are no longer loose stirrups around. So you got nothing to worry about, love"

"And the girl of the story, is she real?"

I smiled.

"She is. All of the story is real, love" I replied as I came close to the door.

"What happened to her?" she asked.

My eyes lifted up and I met her face across the room. She smiled at me and removed her black balaclava, as beautiful as the first time I ever saw her. I returned the smile to my beloved and looked back to the girl in my arms. "She became my wife"


	25. THANK YOU ALL FOR READING

**That was it! The final Chapter! again, it was a pleasure to finish this for all of you (you can count on that) I hope you like how it ends! Please dont forget to comment about it!**


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